Dead Book

I was actually sitting there watching when my one-year-old took the first tear at this book and I continued to watch as she tore each piece that followed.

I could have easily ran over and taken the book and restored it to health, but the problem was that I was cuddled up on the couch with a book, cozily wrapped in blankets, with Kenzie cuddled up in my lap.

How is that a problem you might ask?

Well, I realized that putting a stop to the book destruction would involve having to not only get up from my moment of bliss, but it would also involve having to deal with the melt-down that surely would follow the taking of the book from the one-year old. (Plus the time to bandage the book, plus the time to find another suitable activity for the one-year-old, plus the fact that I would have to put down my book and distract my three-year old from her cuddle time with mommy which might have possibly led to a melt down from the three-year-old as well.)

So, I let the book die. (Sorry mom and dad, that IS in fact the book you sent last week, but you can feel comforted in knowing that that book afforded you the opportunity to indirectly baby-sit both your granddaughters from 3,000 miles away).

As mothers we pick our battles. We decide when its worth it and when its not. If it had been, maybe the family heirloom bible for example, then the battle would have been won by yours truly; given the circumstances, I let Jordyn tear to her heart's content until all interest was lost.

So, I must ask, what items have been sacrificed for the sake of your sanity in your home? What battle did you LET your kid THINK they were winning?

Habits

So I've noticed lately that Kenzie likes to chew around the peel of her apple. The results often look something like this:




In my attempt to save some apple I cut off the peel before giving her an apple today. The result came in as this:



A habit formed is hard to break . . .

Hide and Sneak

Kenzie has developed an obsession with "games" lately. Duck, Duck, Goose, and Hide and Seek are a daily request in this house.

She doesn't quite have the entire concept down, but she sure is hilareous to play with. Here is a rendition of "Hide and Sneak" (as she appropriately refers to it).

Me: Alright, I will count to ten while you go and hide, okay?

Kenzie: Alright! I gonna go hide and sneak in the nursery, okay?

Me: Well you're not supposed to tell me silly girl, its a secret.

Kenzie: Okay, here I go, shut your eyes and count.

Me: One, Two, (I hear the nursery doors being slammed open) Three, Four, (I hear the nursery doors slammed shut) Five, Six, (I hear frantic little giggles) Seven, Eight . . .

Kenzie: Mommy, I hiding, come and get me

Me: I'm not done counting yet.

Kenzie: But I'm hiding, so you all done counting

Me: Alright then, ready or not, here I come! Hmmmm . . . I wonder wear Kenzie could be?

Kenzie: I in the nursery mommy

Me: Is she behind the chair? Noooo

Kenzie: Noooo (frantic giggles once again)

Me: Is she under the desk?

Kenzie: No, I in the nursery, I sneaky!

Me: Is she in the bathroom?

Kenzie: Mommy, I told you, I in the nursery! (with a bit of irritation in her tone)

Me: Hmm, lets look in the nursery. (I walk in a see what is pictured above). I wonder if she behind the door?

Kenzie: (Yanks the blanket off) Here I am! How you find me?

Me: I found you!!

Kenzie: I a good hider, you thought I was in the bathroom.

Me: Yup, you sure tricked me!

So, I think my favorite is when it is my turn to hide and her turn to sneak. She only gives me to the count of three (a VERY fast three) and if I do happen to make it to a good hiding place she gets really frustrated. She always expects me to be in the place that she was last hiding in and that just adds to the frustration. Then she starts screaming "Mommy, you supposed to tell me where you are!"

She's got a way to come with her hide and seek skills, but she is totally hilarious nonetheless.

A Child's Prayer

I don't know about the rest of you, but prayer time can feel like a zoo at times. Our morning prayers are not typically too bad because they precede going out the door. Going out the door is something MaKenzie is looking forward to, and knowing that prayers have to be completed before leaving is reason enough for her to sit down and fold her little arms. Nighttime prayers are a totally different story. These prayers are inevitably followed by going to bed - something that Kenzie will try as craftily as possible to avoid. These evening prayers sometimes require bribery ("Daddy will give you a piggy back ride if you say prayers") and can even come to subtle threats when our patience is waning ("No bedtime book if you don't come and pray with us"). The threats are something we try to avoid because we don't want her associate prayer time with something horrible, but when you're tired and looking forward to get a crazy kid in bed you do whatever works fastest. Once we are gathered, the way the prayer itself goes depends on her mood. If she is feeling silly she will chant Jesus' name through the entire prayer or play peek-a-boo with Jordyn. If she is feeling sassy she will lay on her back and refuse to kneel. If she is feeling sweet then she will actually kneel, bow her head, and close her eyes (only for the first few seconds of coarse - I don't know one two year old who keeps their eyes closed for the entire prayer?) By the end of these encounters we can often wonder why we are going through this process as all? Well, the answer same yesterday in a pretty humorous way . . .

Kenzie is a bit clumsy. She tends to get excited and not watch where she is going, and then when she trips on her way to her destination she can have a total break down. Yesterday we were celebrating a poo-poo in the potty momentous occasion and we were excitedly running into the kitchen for a pez reward. Well, she tripped in transit and fell on her knee. The first words out of her mouth (in that loud, whining, fake cry, two-year-old, tantrum voice) were, "Ooooweeeee, I waaaant to saaaay a p-p-praaaayer to maaaake my kneeeee all bet-t-t-ter." I'm proud to say that we said a little prayer right then and there (even though my typical feeling towards the fake cry is annoyance). As soon as we finished our prayer Kenzie popped up and said, "See, Jesus works, all better."

Lesson learned: Every prayer that ends with you secretly wanting to throw your child out the window is actually a step in the right direction.

Frustrations

Kenzie is starting to show signs of not wanting to take naps in the afternoon and it is really freaking me out. She has been great about staying in her big girl bed up until two nights ago. She now gets up and walks out of her room several times and NOTHING seems to work. The night before last she didn't go down until nine because she kept thinking it was a game to get out of her bed over and over and over again. I'm going a little bit insane partly because mommy time is necessary and also because my management job is extremely demanding lately; basically, an hour or two of naps in the afternoon is something I have come to depend on to get by . . . I want to try and transition Kenzie into having "quite time" in the afternoon if naps are something that she really doesn't need anymore. The thing is that the attention span of a two and a half year old doesn't seem to coincide with a quite time each day? I think motherhood is a never ending stream of problem solving. Let's see how creative I can get this time . . .

Learning Quickly

Sometimes I just don't give Kenzie enough credit for the things that she is capable of doing. I tend to think that she isn't quite old enough to understand how certain things work, and I often do things for her that she is perfectly capable of doing on her own. Tonight she taught me once again that she is getting older and able to do things for herself. Garrett asked Kenzie to say our family prayer tonight and Kenzie asked me to help her. Rather than having her repeat things exactly as I said, tonight I asked her questions.

This is what she was grateful for tonight:
1. yummy cookies
2. food
3. Jordyn
4. Mommy and Daddy
5. Grandma, Grandpa, and Ginny
6. friends - specifically Sarah and Kamri

These are the blessings she asked for tonight:
1. that we can go outside and play
2. please bless the food
3. sleep okay
4. that we can go outside and play

I was almost in tears while I listened to her. I can't believe how fast this little girl is growing up!

WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?

So I just received word from a friend who had recently been to the doctors office for a check-up with her son. The doctor told her that it looks like it is going to become law that children be in rear facing car seats until they are TWO!!! Um, I don't know about the rest of you out there, but I would rather swim with ravenous great white sharks than be stuck with an energetic toddler in a rearward facing car seat!? I am quite certain that whoever is out there making this law does NOT have children. So, the doctor had said that there is irrefutable evidence that it is so much safer to have your children rearward facing for as long as possible. My question is whether or not they did a study to see if this law will create an increase in child abuse? A crazy toddler is so much more entertained when they can see outside the windows of the car and see what mom and dad are doing; without this relief I'm quite certain that a few more parents out there are bound to flip their lids! I personally would need to buy a new car if this law does in fact come into play. Those monster car seats that a one year old gets into will only fit in the middle seat of our car; and there is NO way that a booster seat and one of those gigantuous car seats will fit side by side in my honda accord. I also know that the minute Kenzie started looking forward was the day that our car ride temper tantrums cut down by eighty percent. I'm hoping that this law is ONLY in California and that it won't take affect until AFTER we leave . . .

I Can Do It Myself

I remember a book from when I was little girl that my parents used to read to me. It was called "I Can Do It Myself" and it had Grover from Sesame Street doing several things all by himself. I battered that book to pieces and now I am on the hunt for a copy for my daughter.

Kenzie feels the need to do EVERYTHING by herself. I think this idea of independence came to her in a dream one night, because she seemed to wake up one day with the will to do all tasks on her own.

This newly found independence can be a huge trial to my patience; but I can usually bite my tongue and let her figure out these tasks on her own (after all, the sooner that she can do it on her own, the better!) It's just that it was so much faster and easier to put a coat on, put shoes on, get in the car seat, and get a bag packed when I was able to do these things for her; especially when there is a need to do these small tasks in a hurry. I try my hardest to give ourselves an extra ten or fifteen minutes before leaving the house for ANY type of outing, so that I can avoid frustration on my part, and melt downs on Kenzie's part; but life is life and rushing moments come. In these moments when I try to help her get an arm in a coat that she has been fiddling with for several minutes, I am met by strict counsel to not interfere with her proceedings; when interference is absolutely necessary (such as when we are in the middle of the store and she has managed to take off her shoe and feels the need to sit right in the middle of the aisle to correct the problem and mommy must move her to a place where a traffic jam will not be caused) it is cause for an instantaneous melt down. The emotions of toddlers . . . gotta love it. In the end, the whole thing is quite comical.

Hooray for Mommy!

As you may know, Kenzie is in the process of potty training. Things are going quite well. She has pretty much got it down when we are at home, which is all I am really looking for at this point. I need to pick up a few more things before I attempt potty training outside of the house. (Being at the park without a toilet in sight is currently at the top of my list for reasons to panic.)

My favorite bits of the potty training business would be the following:

1. Sorry Hillary, you said not to blog about this one, but I just can't help myself . . . Last night Kenzie's friend Sarah was over, and Kenzie was showing those definite signs of needing to do her serious business in the bathroom. I caught her just in time to have her whisked away to the bathroom and placed on the pot. No one is allowed in the bathroom while Kenzie is doing her thing, so she quickly instructed Garrett to leave and let her be. So, Garrett returned to our company in the living room and told her to let us know when she was ready to wipe and wash her hands. (Which usually consists of her screaming out that she is ready to wipe at the top of her lungs - I'd be quite surprised if our whole apartment building isn't aware of our current potty training adventures) Well, we all got a little caught up in some adult conversation before we realized that the house was a little bit too quite for two year olds. We went into the bathroom to find Sarah with a fist FULL of toilet paper ready to help her little pal out . . . now THAT is friendship. :)

2. Kenzie feels that her sister should be potty trained as well. Anytime I change a poopy diaper of Jordyn's, Kenzie tells sister that she is "icky" and should put her poo-poo in the potty. Kenzie often insists that sister go and sit on the potty when Jordyn is showing the obvious signs of making a mess in her diaper. I am just hoping that I don't find Kenzie trying to put Jordyn in the toilet one of these days . . .

1. Finally, Kenzie feels the need to celebrate mommy's potty training abilities. Anytime I am getting ready to head to the bathroom Kenzie inquires about whether or not I need to poo-poo or pee-pee in the potty. As soon as she hears the toilet flush and I make my appearance out of the bathroom, she is there to congratulate me with one or all of the following: a hug, a high five, or a "Hooray for Mommy" while she jumps up and down. She knows going potty is truly something to celebrate . . . even when you are a twenty-three year old mother of two.

I Don't Get It . . .

What is the difference between a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that has been cut into four little squares and one that has not been cut?  (I know this sounds like a cheesy laffy-taffy joke, sorry to disappoint.)  The only difference I've noticed so far is that my toddler would NEVER even THINK about touching the whole sandwich, but she will down the four little pieces in a heartbeat.  I don't get it?

Obsessions

Kenzie has had many different obsessions over the past year of life. It all began with Elmo. Anything Elmo was a reason for great celebration. She would jump up and down, raises her little pudgy fists in the air and shout "Yay Elmo". Well, from Elmo we went to Dash, and her most recent obsession is any Mary Poppins song. I must sing "Let's Go Fly a Kite", "Supercalifradalisticexpealidocios", "I Love to Laugh", and "A Spoon Full of Sugar" at LEAST ten times a day.

We've also had our obsessions with different treats. There was once a time when Goldfish were our staple food. We've since gone through fruit snacks, pirates booty, and we are currently on those cheese and peanut butter crackers.

Then there are some obsessions that aren't quite as convenient. There was that week that Kenzie was obsessed with the toilet paper. When the house got quiet, you could be sure to find her in the bathroom happily unrolling all of the toilet paper on the role. A few weeks later she observed daddy getting a bloddy nose and noticed that he stuck little pieces of toilet paper up his nose. Well, she decided to try the same thing. We spent a few weeks in a row in which I was pinning her down on the ground with a pair of tweezers extracting little balls of toilet paper from WAY up in her nose. There was also once a time when unfolding any bit of laundry was an absolute must. And now, the kid has an obsession with string. Yes, string. Any bit of string that she can get her hands on she EATS. We are passed the obsessive stage of everything goes to your mouth. She KNOWS the difference between food and all that other junk that a baby thinks to put in their little mouths. For some strange reason, string is in the eating category of Kenzie's little mind. When she notices string unraveling from a sock, a blanket, or an article of clothing, she promptly helps to unravel the stitches and eat them. Yesterday we found a piece of string on the floor and I asked her to throw it in the garbage. She ran into the other room to throw it away - or so I thought. She quickly entered the room again pointing at her little mouth saying "garbage, garbage". The worst is what goes in, must come out and I have pulled some pretty long string out of this kids little bottom! Well, we will keep working on it and hope that this obsession will pass as quickly as the others . . .

Mess #3,254 and counting . . .

While I was nursing the baby today (these stories seem to always start with "when I was nursing the baby") I once more made the mistake of leaving the bedroom door open AND not locking Kenzie in the living room with our child-proof gate (Why did I buy the stupid thing if all I do is forget to use it?) Anyway, my forgetfulness led to the worst mess yet. All the other messes up to this point have been cleanable for the most part (although, diaper rash ointment is a hard one to remove). Kenzie came walking into the living room holding none other than my bleaching pen and asking for wipes so that she could clean up her messes. Oh yes, I really wanted to scream this time! Probably wouldn't have been so bad if she wasn't wearing her brand new clothes that I got her for her birthday! The floor in the bedroom was also bleached, but I'm not so concerned about that seeing how there were already several bleach stains on the carpet when we moved in. Oh well, it's my own fault to have left a bleaching pen withing the reach of a two year old, but nevertheless it was still quite frustrating . . .

Toddler Moments

Sometimes motherhood seems to be filled with never ending moments of worry. It's quite silly and usually a waste of time, but I think we are all guilty of being worrisome from time to time - it just comes with the job. My latest worries have been induced by toddler hood. I am now the mother of a full blown toddler. There is no more baby left in Kenzie anymore. While I still call her my baby and will have a hard time thinking of her otherwise she is definitely growing into a little girl. She runs instead of waddling, she whines instead of crying, she talks instead of babbling, and she is the most curious little gal ever. Sometimes this toddler hood can translate to a mom who wants to pull her hair out because if all those things come together in one moment you have a child who is running, whining, talking, and being curious all at the same time.

My most recent motherhood worry comes from the whining department. Kenzie rarely seems to express herself without whining about what it is that she needs. More often than not I can't entirely understand what it is that she is complaining about which leads to more whining. Garrett and I have learned a lot of patience in the last few weeks. Often by the end of the day our first instinct is to just want to put her in her crib and cry and whine all night long; but we've learned to get down on her level and try to talk to her about what is going on. It can take some time and effort at times, but we usually end up with a happier toddler that way. It's amazing what a prayer, a deep breath, and some patience can do for you. It's really helped me in all of my relationships with people. Let's face it, there are other people besides toddlers that we would like to just lock in a crib at times and let them whine it out, but that's just not realistic. So, dealing with Kenzie has really helped me to be patient with other difficult personalities that we often find ourselves dealing with (we won't mention any names).

Anyway, my second worry involves our recent entry into nursery. It seems that Kenzie has a knack for being a silent instigator of trouble in the nursery. She often quietly approaches other kids and silently takes their toys or pushes them aside to get to what she wants which always leads that kid into a temper tantrum or a full out attack on Kenzie (which I don't feel bad about - she has it coming). Anyway, this just worries me! Garrett assures me that all kids this age just don't know how to share yet and are very one tract minded in getting what they want - which I know is true; however, when it is your baby being the instigator it worries me a lot more! It really makes for funny stories further down the road, but right now I don't want my kid of be a bully! I try not to talk like this in front of MaKenzie because if I am always expressing my worries that she is a bully or unkind she is more likely to believe that. For now I know that I just have to know that "this too shall pass" . . .

On a lighter note, this stage of childhood is SO much fun to watch. I am SO grateful for the blessing that I have in being a stay at home mom and getting so see every moment of our kids lives develop. Kenzie loves to pretend play lately. She pushes her dollies in the stroller, wraps them up in blankets and puts them down for naps, puts them on the potty, and even places them in time-out. She loves to dress up in my shoes, necklaces, and hair things and then prance around the house singing. Her newest obsession is taking on and off her own shoes and socks, she is not very good at it - but not a day goes by when I don't find her shoes ans socks drawer all over the floor with her in the middle of the pile trying on her "choos" and "gocks". Her vocabulary seems to grow every day. There are still many words that I don't understand - which can lead to upset toddler at times - but we are slowly figuring out how to communicate. Her favorite words right now seem to be "mine" and "no" - once again, we know we have a toddler on our hands! :) It's fun to have a little kid around that you can really play with now. She'll chase us around and then we chase her around while she squeals in delight. She loves piggy back rides and really enjoys the park. She has a huge obsession with everything Elmo and everything Nemo, which is also entertaining to watch as well.

Anyway, I have been on the computer too long and Kenzie is begging to go "side" (outside). I promised her a trip to the library and the park this morning so it looks like we better get going. She is currently trying to shoves shoes on my feet in attempts to get me going. Gotta love it! :)

The Toddler Stage

I know I have not completely made it through the toddler stage yet, but I have still have a lot to love about it:

1. Like I said in the picture, she is always discovering something with a big smile.

2. The most simple things are just so fascinating to a toddler. In fact, this gal is the reason why I entitled our family blog "The Simple Things". She is always teaching me that there is so much happiness to have from the simple things in life. For example, these are some of the simple things that give her so much pleasure: getting tickled by daddy, reading a book with mommy, emptying a drawer ten times in a row, or letting sand fall through her fingers. Can we learn a lesson from that or what? Life is full of happiness if we just stop and enjoy what's right in front of us rather than constantly seeking for something ahead of us.

3. The belly laugh. Oh the silly things we will do to make a toddler laugh!

4. The squeal of excitement for a friend who has come to visit or for daddy when he walks through the door at the end of the day.

5. The baby babble. I LOVE the baby babble. They really ARE saying something and I know she understands almost everything I am saying. I am excited for the day that she can communicate with me better, but the baby babble is so much fun.

6. Have you ever noticed that they can do the same thing over and over and over again and not loose interest?

7. My favorite thing to date about toddlers is how much they love their mommies and daddies. When MaKenzie was a newborn anyone could hold her and care for her, but now it is mommy and daddy who she runs to when she is hurt and mommy and daddy are the only ones she will snuggle with (only when she is in the mood of course, which is usually only when she is really tired or sick - but hey, I will take what I can get!) and of course, mommy and daddy were among the first words she learned! :)