She'll still need me... right?!

After I read Elizabeth a story, she turned and hugged me and patted me on the back. What a nice cuddle, I thought. And then...

E: "When I grow up, I'm not even going to need a mommy anymore."

That sound you heard? Was my heart shattering all across the floor.

Me: "But I'm a grown up and I still need my mommy. Do you think you'll still need your mommy when you are grown up?"

E: "No. Because I'll grow up and be a big kid and I won't be a little kid anymore."

Like I need reminders. She's getting big so fast.

Another potty training update :)

So last week was Lizzie's first time in big girl undies. No big deal. AHH!!!

She actually could have been switched over from pull ups to underwear a few weeks ago, but we hadn't made it to the store yet to buy them. Mommy fail.

She hasn't had an accident during the day since before October 1st. Seriously, overnight it just seemed to click with her. We have been working on it this whole summer, and she has done decent. But as of October 1st... she gets it. She tells me every single time she has to go. When we are eating out at a restaurant, or shopping for groceries, in dance class... she never goes in her pants! Even during her nap time she knocks on the door when she has to go. It is pretty awesome.

She is still in pull ups at night and has only had a couple incidents where she is wet in the mornings. I am pretty freakin excited and so proud of my big girl!

Introducing Binky Giraffey

This is going to be a long, boring post about something that nobody else will probably ever care about but that I want to remember forever. So here goes. I am a little embarrassed to actually say this out loud (or... type it out), but Elizabeth has STILL been using her binky. Her binky has always been her "lovey." She never had a stuffed animal or blanket that she brought with her everywhere. She just wanted her binkys. However many she could fit in her teeny hands. However, for a very, very long time, she has only had them at night and nap time. And I have been terrified, dreading the day when it is time to take away her binkys. Which is why she's 3 years old and still had them.

Transitioning to an only bed time binky was actually super easy. One day I asked if she wanted to leave her binky in her crib after her nap, and she just turned and tossed it back in the crib. From that day on, she only had it when she was sleeping.

Lately though, she's been more dependent on her binkys. She'll go get them from her room and bring them out to the rest of the house. I'll tell her that binkys are for bed time, so she tells me she's sleepy and she'll lay down wherever she's at to go to bed.

My baby girl with her binky. I am so going to miss her binky face.

About a week ago I started talking to her about sending her binkys to a new baby who needs them and about going to the store to get a stuffed animal that we can name Binky. That way she can still have a Binky to sleep with. (Got this idea from my cousin who still sleeps with a big horse named Pacifier. :) She said to this idea, "I want to get a giraffe." Okay then.

The other day we were at the store and came across this big display of pillow pets. She said, "Look at all those animals named Binky!!" There were several giraffes in the mix, so I grabbed one and she just cuddled with it. Looks like we found our Binky! Wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but it'll do.

I wasn't exactly sure when this whole Binky switch was going to happen, but tonight the issue was kind of forced. A tear was discovered in the one binky that we found, the pink one that seems to be her favorite these days. The other two, "green and yellow binky" and "butterfly binky," were no where to be found. I asked Lizzie if she wanted to sleep with her new Binky giraffe tonight so we could send her binkys to a new baby, and she grinned and ran to the kitchen to get the giraffe off the table.

This picture shows all her beloved binkys: pink binky, green and yellow binky, and butterfly binky. Also, she is sleeping on her rocking chair like a little weirdo.

I started reading stories while we had this giant giraffe sitting with us. Only one time did she say that she wanted her binkys, and I just reminded her she had her Binky giraffe to sleep with instead. She seemed fine with that. At one point she told me the giraffe's name is Binky Giraffey.

Lizzie with Mr. Binky Giraffey

She actually did really good. Well.... other than not being at all tired and getting up constantly. She kept standing at her door saying she wanted her mommy and I lost track of the number of times I went in there to lay her back down, but she never again mentioned wanting her binkys.

She finally settled down on the floor (her new favorite spot to sleep) and fell asleep. One time I watched on the video monitor as she sat up and looked around like she was searching for her binkys. My heart broke just a little right then and I instantly regretted this whole thing. Then she laid back down on Binky Giraffey and fell right back to sleep. Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought it was going to be...

So very proud of my big girl.

Big Girl Bed!

Switching from a crib to a big girl bed is something I had been worried about for quite some time. Ever since shortly after Elizabeth's 1st birthday, when she FINALLY became a decent sleeper, and FINALLY started sleeping through the night consistently, I have been in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality.

Elizabeth goes to bed around 9:00 PM and stays in bed until around 9:00 AM. It. is. awesome. So of course, the not knowing what will happen when she is released from the confines of her crib is super scary. Would we never sleep again?!

Finally, at only a couple weeks away from turning three years old, we converted her crib into a big girl toddler bed last night.

First night actually went great. SO great. I am very cautiously optimistic about this whole big girl bed thing. Time will tell!

Get out of here bug! ... no wait, come back...

E: "Mommy, please get rid of this bug!"

I wave my arms around at the fly

Me: "Okay, he should be gone."

The stupid bug flies back around and I wave my arms around again.

E: giggles

Me: "There, he should be gone now."

E: starts crying "I miss him! I miss that bug!"

Me: .....seriously??? "I'm sure he'll be back, honey."

E: whimpers "I miss him."

The stupid bug flies around us again.

Me: "See, he's back. Happy?"

E: "Yeah!" smiles all huge "I like bugs. Mommy, do you like bugs?"

Me: "I like cheerios! Here, eat your cheerios."

E: "Mommy, do you like bugs?"

Me: sigh "Yep.... so much."

Ugh

See the little black speck on the table in front of her? That's her stupid bug.

Potty training updates

Toddlers have this weird way with habits. Do something one way, just one time, and you should pretty much count on doing it the same way for the foreseeable future.

Elizabeth's toilet is behind our loveseat in the living room.

How, might you ask, did the toilet make its way to behind the loveseat?

Every time she needed to go, she would run behind the loveseat, grunt a little, and come out a little stinkier. Any time we caught her running back there, we would try to get her to go to the toilet. Sometimes she would, sometimes she wouldn't.

SO. Her dad came up with the bright idea of putting her little toilet behind the love seat one evening when she was caught running back there. That way she can get used to going in the toilet while still going behind the loveseat where apparently she feels comfortable. Great idea, right?! Except now there is a toilet behind my loveseat. Every time I move it back to the restroom, she will drag it right back out and carry it behind the loveseat.

I'm sure this will be a hilarious story to one day tell her future boyfriend. But for now, I can't wait until she can go in the restroom like normal people.

Soon Enough

Elizabeth is now 2 years, 8 months, and 2 days old. She has officially been a "big girl" for some time now. She learns new things every day and amazes me with some of the things she says. She is so very stubborn and challanges me daily. (So far, I usually win, even if not at first.) She's very independant and will rarely ask for my help for anything. She knows what she wants, even if her mind changes three seconds later (hey, its her perogative). She is crazy smart (at least in my opinion). She counts to 39, learned her ABC's around her 2nd birthday, and can sing songs with me by the 2nd or 3rd time she hears them.

She's growing up. So very fast.

However, at night time, when it is time for her bedtime routine, she turns the light off and shuts the door, tells me to say "muahaha" while she makes her way across the dark room to turn the sound machine and lamp on, and then she goes to her crib for her binkys. She sticks one in her mouth and holds on to the other, and comes over to me to climb up in my lap.

This is when she is still my baby. When she just curls up in my arms with a binky in her mouth. I realize that at over 2.5 years old, she is probably a little too old for her binkys. I don't think either of us are ready for her to part with them quite yet though.

Soon enough she won't have them any more. Soon enough she won't want to cuddle up on my lap for books and stories and songs and giggles before bedtime. Soon enough she won't be my baby, in the literal sense of the word. She'll go from a little girl to a grown woman entirely way too fast. But for right now, she is still small. And I will enjoy these binky faced cuddles while I can.

A trip to the doctor

Yesterday when my little girl woke up, Nate brought her into our bed for some cuddles. She felt a little warm to me and I asked it she felt yucky. She said, "No, I feel fine." (She's so cute.) So I figured she was warm because she just woke up.

So then she was in her high chair and about to eat some cheerios when she started crying and saying she felt sad. Then she puked all up in her cheerios. I got baby cleaning duty and Nate tackled her high chair. When I took her jammies off, her skin felt HOT. I took her temp and it was 101 degrees. OF COURSE it was a Sunday yesterday. That's just how she rolls.

I gave her motrin and tylenol yesterday to keep her fever down. At one point it got up to 103 degress. She told me her throat hurt and that there was a frog in it. I wasn't even sure she knew what a throat was, but when I asked her to show me, she opened her mouth and said "ahhhh!"

So today we went to see her doctor. She looked oh-so-sick as she ran around the waiting room like a crazy person. Playing games, laughing, running some more. Then the nurse called her back and she got weighed like a big girl. 29.5 lbs!

There have been a couple people in our lives that have had strep lately, so the nurse wanted to do a strep test. Lizzie did not care for it, to put it mildly. Luckily Nate was able to break away from work to come help us at the doctor appointment. (He only drove 85-90 mph following a black SUV for about 1/3 of the way from Elkhorn. That black SUV ended up being a K-9 unit police SUV. Oops.) BUT he made it. So he held Lizzie's head still and I held her arms down while the mean nurse (who is actually super nice) stuck a giant Q tip down my daughter's throat.

Lizzie sobbed and sobbed and puked and sobbed some more. She kept coughing and throwing up phlem. It was pretty gross. To distract her from her sobbing, I started telling stories about a beautiful little girl named Lizzie and all of her wild adventures. She got pretty into the stories and would turn and repeat stuff I said to Nate. It was pretty cute. The whole time she was holding kleenex up to her mouth in case she started coughing again.

The nurse poked her head back in the room and said she was glad we did the strep test, because it had already come back positive. Well... crap. Poor kid.

So I finally get her in a good mood with these stories and then Dr. B comes in. Lizzie immediatly started sobbing and jumped in my lap and put a death grip on my neck. That kid was glued to me. After a lot of coaxing on our part and sobbing and coughing on her's, we finally got her to show Dr. B her pretty eyes. Then we tried to get her to show him her teeth and she freaked and turned around again. FINALLY we got her to say "ahhh" (while still crying) long enough for him to get a quick glance in her mouth.

Then since she was such a good girl (ha), the nurse gave her a Dora and Boots sticker that she really, really wanted on her tummy.

While Lizzie and I strolled the aisles at Walgreens waiting for her prescription to be ready, she said, "Mommy, Dr. B fun!"

I was shocked and said, "You had fun at Dr. B's?"

Lizzie: "Yeah!" *starts sobbing hysterically* Yeah, sure you did, kid.

( My "baby" will be two and a half in 4 days!)

"I LOVE (fill in the blank)!"

Elizabeth is such a little punk lately. A cute punk, but a punk nonetheless. When we tell her to do something or not do something, like, "Don't hit mommy," for example, she'll say, "I LOVE hitting mommy!

Me: "Lizzie, don't lay your face on the toilet."
Liz: "I LOVE laying my face on the toilet!"

Nate: "Don't poke the caterpiller, Elizabeth."
Liz: "I LOVE poking the caterpiller!"

You get the idea. Punk.

First Dance Class

A friend told me about a toddler dance class at one of the local dance studios in town so I immediately signed Lizzie up. (By "immediately," I mean that I called two days before it started to make sure there were still openings...)

So off we go to dance class. On the way, there was a song on the radio about when your babies grow up and leave the house. I got misty eyed thinking about my baby leaving me one day and because this is my little girl's very first dance class and I don't want her to grow up too fast but I am so excited to see her grow up and learn new things and become a contributing member of society... but right now she is my little girl and we are on our way to her very first dance class. (By the way, how exactly did she get old enough to go to a dance class??)

Then she ruined the whole day for me.

The dance class itself was actually pretty fun. Lizzie was super cute doing all of the little dance moves. She shook her wiggles out and jumped and marched and chasséd and skipped with the best of 'em. Well, she tried at skipping. And chasséing. We sang and danced to "If You Are Happy and You Know It" and a song about going in a villiage. She rang a bell up high and down low and in a circle. And then she refused to go through the tunnel even though she has a tunnel at home and goes in it all. the. time. But whatever.

After the class though, my daughter became... I'd rather not say possessed, but I am lacking a better word. Okay... naughty. Super naughty. Extremely, super naughty. She freaked out. She decided that right then and there, in front of 25 other moms and kids, that she wanted to prove that I am a terrible mom and that she is a big jerk. Kidding. Kind of.

I was so humiliated. She wouldn't let me put her boots or her coat on. She screamed and tried running away and then would go all limp noodle on me when I caught her. She even tried hitting me in my face! What the what?? If it wasn't 3° outside, I would have just picked her up and walked outside. But no. I wanted her to be warm.

There are seven more dance classes. I'm not so sure that we'll make it to the next one.

She is soooo lucky she is cute.

Why do I stall?

Nate goes to bed earlier than I do almost every night. All of a sudden I think that I must watch this show that has been on my DVR for four months tonight. Or finish a sewing project, or a scrapbook page, etc...

After the show is over, I shut all the lights off and get ready for bed, brush my teeth, wash my face. I walk into the office to shut my computer off... but I might as well check my email real quick before I go to bed. Oh there's a good sale at that store, maybe we'll have to check that out tomorrow... and pictures are only 7 cents at that website right now! I'll just select the pictures I want to print real quick... Okay, back to email. Well. That email is annoying. I definitely don't know what to do about that one... I should probably stare into space for 5 minutes while I think about what to do about it. Nope, nothing. I suppose that email can wait until tomorrow. Finally I shut the computer down.

I turn around to shut off the lamp over my puzzle table, and think, wouldn't it be nice if I could get just one puzzle piece before I go to bed? Eleven puzzle pieces later, I shut the lamp off. Then I think I spot a piece I've been looking for! Lamp goes back on. Yep, it's the one! Five pieces later, lamp goes back off.

Then I go crawl into bed, hoping I don't wake Nate up so he can say, "What time is it? Wow, you aren't going to get much sleep tonight."

Thanks for that.

Happy Baby

This is pretty much an update to this post.

My kid is emotional. She has always, even as a little baby, flipped emotions in a matter of a second. It has always been a source of amusement in our family, how she can go from laughing to crying or crying to laughing in 2 seconds flat.

It is hilarious how she can compose herself when she is a "sad baby."

Lately she has been throwing these little tantrums where she screams and cries and carries on. When this happens, I tell her, "Go to your room and find a happy face." She will usually run back to her room and look in the mirror by her crib.

The first time I said this to her, I showed her where to go to find her happy face. The second time I told her this, she took off down the hall. I snuck back to her room and saw her making faces at herself in the mirror. She spotted me pretty quick and started laughing. Now when I tell her this, she runs down the hall and runs back a moment later with a huge smile, saying, "Mommy, baby happy now!"

Also, she'll sometimes cross her arms and scrunch up her face and say, "Baby so mad." This is a far cuter way to express those feelings, girlfriend. It is even cuter when she pretends to be mad and can't hold back her smile!