CLOTHESLINE (April 24)
I decided this month that I definitely wanted a clothesline in the back yard. It just made sense to me to use the sun and the wind to dry our clothes instead of the dryer. So, Matt got some 4x4s and 2x4s, some wire and hooks, then borrowed a post hole digger and we were set.
The more dirt, the merrier. She loved to put dirt on her legs, on her pants, her socks, up her pant legs. ON ME. It was quite an honor to have Madeleine put dirt on us. She’d get a little handful and put it on my pants, or daddy’s pants, or a piece of wood. It was so adorable!
Once my line was up, Madeleine wanted to help. So Matt used a leftover piece of 2x4, got some more wire and made her a little line. She liked it right away!
LIBRARY
We returned to the library for Toddler Time every Tuesday in the month of April. The series was put on hold for the month of May for library planning, so that was a bummer.
For the most part, Madeleine still just sits on my lap and watches what’s going on around her. All the other kids are clapping, walking around, jumping, etc. There is a song she gets into a little called “Shake my Sillies Out.” Each kid gets an egg shaker, and that is a big hit. Madeleine also jumps for this part.
We borrowed a whole bunch of books during the last two weeks of April:
“The Apple Pie that Papa Baked” (Lauren Thompson)
“Click, Clack, Quackity-Quack: ABC Book” (Doreen Cronin)
“Olivia Saves the Circus” (Ian Falconer)
“Rain” (Peter Spier)
“The Ear Book” (Al Perkins)
“Olivia” (Ian Falconer)
“Hot Rod Harry” (Catherine Petrie)
“Little Bear’s Friend” (Else Minarik)
“The Cat in the Hat” (Dr. Suess)
“Big Chickens” (Leslie Helakoski)
The only real successes were “Little Bear’s Friend” (we all liked that one a lot) and “Big Chickens.” Both books had a page that she fixated on (see the next section). The Olivia books have some “questionable” content (LOL), such as Olivia jumping on her bed at bedtime and telling lies. Not sure what to think about all of that, but we don’t want to give Madeleine any ideas (like jumping at bedtime…). She did enjoy “The Cat in the Hat,” though.
I think my favorite observation about the library, specifically Toddler Time, is that Madeleine really enjoys it, really pays attention to the songs especially. When we get home, she can recite many words from the songs.
For example, “The wheels on the bus.” During the song at the library, she just stands there, maybe she’ll clap if I help her get started. But at home, she’s doing the moves, saying the words, having a blast. I guess that’s the introvert in her? Her favorite verses right now are the wheels (go round and round), the people (go up and down), and the doors (open and shut).
SOME BOOK NOTES
Madeleine has always loved her books. She loves being read to, she loves just sitting and looking at books.
Well. Lately, we’ve noticed a couple of trends.
[1] In many books, there is one page that Madeleine wants read over and over. And over and over. If we try to move on in the story, she asks to go back and read the page again. And again. (Guess you’re getting the picture now!)
[2] There are three pages, in particular, from three different books, that she is obsessed with right now. And I think “obsessed” is the right word. Some of these were in library books, so they didn’t all gain favor at the same time. But Matt and I noticed a pattern in the three pages. All three pages had to do with something FALLING. Hm! There was a page in “Chester’s Way” about a bike falling over. Then there was a page in a little nursery rhyme book about Humpty Dumpty—who has a great fall. Finally, in “Little Bear’s Friend,” Emily’s doll falls out of a tree. She could have stared at the last page, in particular, for an hour. It was bizarre, but I guess it shows part of her development. Maybe she’s learning that she, too, can fall? I dunno, just a thought! And of course, these weren’t the ONLY pages that she wanted repeated many times. But they stood out, having something in common.
TEDA’S HOUSE
We got to return to Teda’s house this month! (April 25) After her first trampoline experience, Madeleine practiced (and practiced!) at home so she’d be ready. And she did not disappoint! Teda was impressed with how well she did this time, how much better. It was fantastic!
I felt significantly more pregnant than I did the last time, though, plus it was warmer, so that part wasn’t much fun for me. Did Madeleine care? Of course not. She would have jumped under any conditions at all. Did she want someone jumping with her? Sure. But if they all got off, it did not stop or slow her one bit.
Since our last visit, Nathan had attached the slide from their swing set to the trampoline, and it was the way up to the trampoline and the way down. Perfect, because now I didn’t have to worry about Madeleine falling while trying to climb up and down the chair they had out last time. She had a complete BLAST.
I’m sure we did other things, but in general, that’s ALL she wanted to do. She had to eat, drink, go potty, and not nap, but those were just minor interruptions to her trampoline time.
SLEEP (MOSTLY), TEETHING, SICK
Well. This month saw a rapid decline in sleep quality and quantity. Apparently lots of 2-year-olds go through a crazy sleep phase, called a regression, and I guess ours started this month. She’s also been getting her last molars, which are supposedly a beast, so I’m sure that’s not helping!
We started with really long transition times at bed, though that wasn’t exactly new. Then we went a 2-week period where she only napped 7 out of 14 days. FUN times, I assure you (not). Near the end of that period, we went to Teda’s, and I think she picked up a cold from one of the girls. So add runny nose and difficulty breathing to the list, and you’ve got the perfect storm!
Beginning April 30, she started waking up in the 5am hour. 5:20, 5:30, 5:40, 5am. Toward May 13, she’d even wake in the 4am hour! 4:45, 4:50, 4:30. RIDICULOUS. And she wouldn’t go back to sleep. What was worse, she learned how to open her bedroom door during this time, so she’d leave her room and come into ours, wide awake and ready for the day to begin. Even if I wasn’t pregnant, I wouldn’t be thrilled to see 4:45am. I needed that sleep! So, sweet Matt, he’d be the one to get up and deal with her, put her back in her room however many times that was required.
Add to this poor naps. No more 2, 2.5 hours; we were seeing 1-1.5 consistently with an occasional longer nap. On days she did nap, it still took her an hour to fall asleep. She started to physically LOOK tired, plus she was acting tired. Then, May 11 and May 13, she didn’t even nap at all, despite waking before 5am! How crazy is this!?!?
We briefly considered discipline for getting out of bed, but I decided that 5am was NOT the time to be trying to train her in any capacity. I would not be a good parent at that hour, and it wouldn’t be fair to her. Consistency is key, and we simply couldn’t guarantee it. So we decided instead to bring back the crib. Weissbluth (this is how “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” is referred to in our home. Kind of how “The Rick” is how we refer to Rick Steves’ travel books) recommended not moving kids to a bed until closer to 3.
Madeleine was AMAZING. She saw the crib in her room and said, “That’s my brown crib.” And that was that. No tears over the loss of the big girl bed, no tantrum, nothing. Just simple acknowledgement. I wonder if she was actually happy to get her crib back. It’s much more secure and snug feeling than the bed was. Despite the fact that she LOVED her bed, she never once asked for it back.
As of the end of this 28th month, morning wake up hasn’t yet improved, but it will take time for the adjustment and restrictions of the crib to register in her subconscious so that she won’t wake early, thinking she can get out of bed.
Also during this time, Matt set up the Mickey lamp on a timer to come on at 6am. He would get up at 6 and go in, get her changed, start breakfast or whatever, and I’d get to join them at 6:30 (or later, if I needed the sleep!). He’s such an awesome daddy and husband!
Anyway, we could always hear, every morning, when Mickey “woke up.” She’d joyfully shout, “Mickey’s awake!” a few times until Matt blearily stumbled into the room.
I couldn’t really separate teething and the cold, since I think they all played a part in wrecking her sleep this month. But teething! She is chewing on basically anything she can fit in her mouth. All the time. It totally stinks for her! She gets medicine at nap time and bed, but it wears off before morning, and I think the constant pain contributes to the early waking.
The cold, too. Hard to sleep well when you can’t breathe. One day, after a nap, I went in to get her. Her sheet was wet, her face, her sleep sack. I wiped her, then said, “Can you breathe?” She replied, “I … I can … I cannot.” It was completely adorable, despite also being sad. But I “bulbed” her (suctioned the snot out of her nose) and she was mostly good to go.
I for one don’t enjoy seeing her so tired, unable to do the things she normally enjoys. For example, she usually likes reading books, or having me read her books. We’ll sit on the big chair for 20-30 minutes reading book after book. That hasn’t happened in a while because she is too tired to sit still for that long.
So as we head into the next month, we just hope Madeleine’s sleep improves!!
FAIR WARNING
This is a concept I read about on a parenting blog. I read it in the context of potty training, but the mom said it worked well for other things too. It’s the idea that you tell your child something is going to happen in plenty of time to let her get used to the idea. For example, “In 3 days, no more diapers for naptime.” If the child is very intellectual, it gives her time to process the change and be mentally prepared for it.
We have big plans to do this for potty training, for weaning from the sleep sack, for diapers at naps, and for pooping on the potty, but we started this month with something smaller: asking for things.
Madeleine was given 7 days warning that at the end of the week, she’d have to ask for things like a big girl. Since “big girl” is working well for us right now, we have high hopes. Asking like a big girl means saying, “May I have that?” or “May I please have that?” Instead of “I want that.”
When the day arrived, Matt (who took the lead on this) reminded her that she was a big girl and needed to ask nicely for things. She did great! She took right to it and has been very compliant with asking nicely. I’m excited about the success of “fair warning,” and I’m looking forward to trying it with other things.
YARD SALE
On April 27 and 28, some good friends of ours, The Rays of Woodstock, hosted a charity yard sale to benefit some other friends who have a little boy who has been struggling since he was 3 months old.
Madeleine and I went up on Friday to say hi and shop around. We ended up spending a few hours there, and it was very nice. I brought home a rag rug for Layla and a few books for Madeleine. Some friends were there, Carli Stockton and her little baby, Sophia. Madeleine was QUITE taken with Sophia, kept asking if she wanted to get down, if she wanted to play, etc. It was good for her to see a little baby (5 months old?), since we’ll be having one in our house soon! Hopefully her expectations won’t be too high and she won’t be too disappointed when baby can’t play with her for a long while.
The next day, we took some stuff to contribute to the yard sale and ended up staying pretty much the whole day. Madeleine didn’t nap (boo), but that wasn’t too surprising, despite the Rays having the BEST possible set up for naps. She used to nap away from home, but since moving to her big girl bed, whenever I put her in the PNP, she asks for her big girl bed.
Anyway, Madeleine collected a few little stuffed animals as the day went: a little cow, a little wolf, and a little black and white cat. Later, I asked her if she wanted to name them. She wanted to name all of them Sophia. I suggested we just pick one to name Sophia, and the little cat got the honors. The wolf and the cow had names on their tags, so the wolf is Slush and the cow is Milkshake. Though, only Slush and Sophia have stuck. The cow is just “cowie.”
Mr. Chuck also gave Madeleine a NAPA matchbox-type car, and that was pretty big for a few reasons. She loves cars, and Mr. Chuck worked for NAPA for 25 years or so. I felt honored!
The yard sale was a HUGE success, raising right at $1500 for this family. Isn’t that awesome?
HOME DEPOT
We returned to Home Depot this month (May 5) for the Saturday morning kids workshop. It was just as wonderful as the first time, except this time, Matt was with us and helped put the project, a planter box, together. Madeleine had the most fun painting it. She chose blue and green paint. At first, I tried to help her get it all covered, showed her how to do it, but when I turned the brush over to her, she just did her own thing. It turned out awesome, and she had a BLAST.
My favorite moments were noticing how all the other girls had chosen pink, purple, teal, and lime green (in various combinations) for their boxes, and also seeing that Madeleine’s was just about the only box NOT fully painted. Granted, she was probably the youngest child there, but we gave her free reign and she did what she wanted. That, really, is what makes me happiest.
HELPING DADDY
One thing we did at Home Depot was purchase a little bit of wood and some screws for Matt to build a balance beam type thing for Madeleine to use in the back yard. He’d seen her enjoy trying to walk on thin walkways at various places.
Over the course of two afternoons, Matt and Madeleine worked together to build the “square” (even though it’s actually a rectangle).
She got to use the carpenter’s pencil and mark on the wood where daddy would drill. She also helped by handing him the right colored screw. He’d ask for the blue or green or black, and she would give him the screw. It was awesome.
(I don’t know if you can tell, but she is TIRED in all of these pictures!)
Oh, we also got a little pepper plant from Home Depot with the planter box. Matt and Madeleine planted it the same day they worked on the square.
The second day of helping daddy was a little rainy. Madeleine donned her rain coat and boots, but it wasn’t terribly wet, so off came the boots and the socks. And she got really dirty. She loved the dirt. I’ve mentioned that before, right? Haha.
NEW THINGS
Matt and I signed up for childbirth classes through Labor of Love, the doula and childbirth education company through whom I found our doula for this birth. They started at the very end of this month, on May 13. Fortunately, Mimi was here because Matt was set to leave on a weeklong trip the next morning. (But we’ll save those details for next month’s blog!)
Anyway, the classes were scheduled from 4-7:30pm on 4 consecutive Sunday nights. That meant that someone other than Matt (or I) would be needed to put Madeleine to bed. This was literally the first time someone other than us put her to bed! And she’s 2.25 years old! I’m not sure what to think of that…
I guess the “good” news is that she didn’t nap that day, so she fell asleep within 10 minutes. She didn’t cry for us, didn’t seem upset at all. I was SO happy that all was well.
Mimi reported that Madeleine did ask where we were at some point during the evening:
Madeleine: “Mama and Daddy are … at class.”
Mimi: “Yes, that’s right.”
Madeleine: “But you’re here, Mimi.”
Mimi: “Right again.”
Next month, I’ll get to report on the next 3 classes and her bedtime fun! Stay tuned!
LITTLE & BIG THINGS
~ One of my FAVORITES from this month happened early. I can’t remember why, but Madeleine decided to put all of her lovies to bed, one at a time. She’d stand in her bed, hold a lovie like a baby, do a little half-spin move, and sing, “twinkle, twinkle, little star” for each one. Then she’d set the lovie in her bed and get the next one. Lamby, Puppy, and both blankies. Then, whomever else might be nearby. She only did this one or two days, but it was PRECIOUS.
~ Rain day! (April 18) Madeleine FINALLY got to wear her raincoat and boots and go outside in the rain. Daddy took her, of course, and they walked around a bit. Madeleine just LOVES splashing in the puddles! I’m so glad she got to do it!
~ I know that last month, I mentioned that Madeleine opened the outside door and went out all by herself. Well, now we tell her that only Mama and Dada can open the side door and the back door. Sometimes she’ll head to the door, put her hand on the handle, and I’ll say her name. She says, “Only mama and dada,” and backs away. It’s funny, and I’m glad she’s sticking to the rule. We haven’t yet put up any additional security measures, in part because she’s now back in her crib. We don’t have to worry about her getting up in the middle of the night and wandering through the house. I’m about 100% sure I’d wake up, but it’s definitely not something I’d want to chance. But, we can revisit the idea once she’s back in her bed.
~ Weasel ball, who made a reappearance in Month 26, burned out his motor with the special rechargeable batteries Matt had bought. LAME. So he procured another weasel ball, and we called this one a her, said it was weasel ball’s sister. Unfortunately, it wasn’t too long before her motor, too, got burned out. We hadn’t been completely sure that was the problem with the original, but this confirmed it. ANYWAY, before weasel ball II became incapacitated, Madeleine named her “weasel boo” but with her special little twist on the name, it sounds like “weasaboo.”
~ Speaking of twists on words: Madeleine seems to really enjoy making up words. Well, there’s been another iteration of “mama” and “dada.” Last month, it was “mommock” and “ba-dada.” This month, “Dabgo” and “Mombo” have become her favorite words for us. “What you doing, Dabgo?” Mombo can also be said as “mom-bwo” in either 2 or 3 syllables.
Lamby’s name also gets special treatment. She’s Lambwo, Lambway and Lambers, among other random, spur-of-the-moment nicknames. However you look at it, it’s awesome!
~ Old Blankie. She’s Madeleine’s oldest lovie, and she’s seen better days (yes, Old Blankie is a “she”). Miss Ronna fixed her awhile ago, but then she got another big hole. When asked if she wanted a new blankie or to have Old Blankie fixed, she said new one. So we got her a new one. That seemed okay for awhile. Madeleine could still play with OB, but she couldn’t sleep with her. But then, Matt said that she would really like to sleep with OB again. She said it enough that I finally just got out my sewing machine and fixed her. The job wasn’t as good as Miss Ronna’s, but Madeleine could sleep with OB again!
~ She’s a total parrot right now. One of my favorite things she said this month was “my bad!”
~ Madeleine let me put a hair clip in her hair for the first time! She just kept brushing her hair away from her face, out of her eyes, so I asked if I could use the clip. I told her what it would do for her, and she let me. Then from then on, she was down with the hair clip! Yay!
~ CURLS!
OUTSIDE FUN!!!
[1] I put the stick on Matt’s face at Madeleine’s request
[2] Swing fun!
[3] In a tree at Home Depot!
[4] I love Madeleine on the slide with Matt!
[5] And of course, with a stick in her mouth. LOL.
[6] She started to explore the overgrown bushes on one side of the yard.
[7] Here she is looking out! She’d go in with one stick, come out with another. What fun!
[8&9] Playing with Layla!
[10] Back in the tree
[1] Checking out Daddy’s mower
[2] Sweet little face!
[3] She loves grabbing that chain from atop the swing set
[4] Climbing the slide
[5] So pumped to be playing
[6] Sweet face again
[7&8] So very pumped
[9] Found a pretty flower
[10] Checking out Mimi’s camera
[11] Reading on the blanket on a perfect day!
[12] Grabbing the chain again
[13] Drinking at the top of the slide (Note for SuSu: Matt has since replaced the bolt sticking up from the slide!)
[14] Sweet girl, happy with her water
[15] Checking out the Mimosa tree
Laying on the floor with some buddies!
So much fun, daddy do it, too!
Reading with Mimi
Just checking out books in the corner!
Madeleine made dinner for her friends and helped feed them.
She likes putting books in the pocket pages of my recipe binder.
She loves helping Daddy swiffer!
I washed some of Madeleine’s baby clothes to prepare for Baby 2, and I just had to take a picture. Isn’t it TINY?
