She’s Getting Bigger
Pic of the Day ~ Becca and Ethan Playing ~
My daughter has always been the one at playdates that has avoided trouble. If she found it, she was quiet about it. I rarely had to be on top of her to ensure she was behaving appropriately. Until yesterday.
When Becca turned two, I giggled to myself. My kid was not terrible. That happened to those kids. Not mine. I am not alone in this silly assumption! Holly too thought she had sailed by the terrible twos.
Now I am discovering that Terrible Twos, do not always happen at two. Oh no, that is to lull you into a false sense of security, allow you to believe that you are a rocking parent that is so above that! HAHAHA!
Not that Becca is being a total monster or anything. Rather she is just exhibiting more behaviours that need redirection or need time out of playing to rethink. Yesterday, we went to Holly’s and was joined by Joey and Chris as well. It was a wonderful time for the four kids, however a tad overwhelming for them too. I witnessed Becca throwing toys and sand at the other kids. So not her thing normally.
I repeatedly pulled her out of play to have her take a break, reminding Becca what appropriate behaviour is, and what it is not. I have never had to make her sit on a chair out of the action before! Usually if redirection is needed, I tell her to stop or do something different and she is cool with that.
Yet all week, her and I have not seen eye to eye. I am still fighting a cold, so I figured it was my lack of patience (which I am sure is part of it), yet there is more to it. My daughter wants to be bigger. She wants to explore more and more independence.
This is all good. It is a tough transition, especially right now. There is so much that is sucking my emotional energy. I am having trouble focusing on things that are important. Being sick is not helping. So much to do. I can be sick after we move.
On a lighter, happier note … J has been awarded another, more prestigious and valuable grant/fellowship through Los Alamos. We have yet to receive an offer for employment there but when we do his wage, as well as funding for conferences and the like will be covered by the fellowship.
Ethan is growing so much! He slept most of the day yesterday, allowing me to visit and knit, he is such a good boy (yet when we were dying yarn he HAD to be in the sling … ) His head strength is gathering and he holds his one on his tummy. Something his sister hated doing! He still experiences wicked bad gas pains, and shot his way out of a Huggies again yesterday (Hello Pampers!) I am so thankful we use cloth at home!
It is a long weekend here in the US. J is working, I am catching up on all the things that have gone to the wayside due to being sick and busy this week. w00t. I also have to get planning for Becca’s birthday party that we will be celebrating in a couple weeks. Any fab ideas for an almost three year old’s pool party? The kid NEEDS a pinata (damn you Skippyjon Jones!), so I will be exploring the art of paper mache. I think I might want to bake her cake this year, but that is linked to time available.
Any big plans for the weekend?
Oh yeah, I forgot your long weekend is later than ours. Check birthdaypartyideas.com - they might have something.
Congrats to J!
Maybe Ethan is shaped more like Rylan. He’s out of huggies every single time we try one. Pampers are the ONLY ones that work, but we have friends who can only use XX kinds because of the shapes of their babies.
Feel better soon!
yup, the more parents I talk to the more I find out there is no such thing as terrible 2s but terrible 3s!
Nate was so good at 2 as well, he was only put on a time out handfull of times. The moment he turned 3 he was on time out 3 times in 1 week! We actually resorted to taking toys away this week & him having to earn it back, it actually worked like a charm & he’s been very good since he earned his toy back on wednesday.
Congrats to J!! woo hoo! You got some smart man there!
Can’t wait to see Ethan’s pics on his tummy. Nate loved his tummy & Emma hates it!
I’m not sure if I posted before but if you remember when Nate was little he leaked out of Huggies to, hence I gave you all my Huggies for Becca. He was a Pampers baby for sure.
Congrats on the award!! I don’t know who Skippy is but I heart pinatas!! I wanted to get one for Julio’s party but Beetle talked me out of it… something about dogs not having thumbs and not being able to swing a bat blah blah blah. It would have been cool. I hope Becca gets one!!!!
Uh Huh! Doin’ it right now…I’ve had my third fight with SF today and I am on the verge of a cigarette and a shot. Wanna join me?
Emily went through the terrible 3’s rather than terrible 2’s. I think it also had to do with her adjusting to having a baby brother. Maybe Becca is trying to adjust as well. Hope things get better soon! And good luck with the pool party!
I have heard the “terrible 2’s” “the trying 3’s” and the 4 well I shall not type the offensive word that I was told (don’t want to offend LOL). I swear Morgyn and kamryn did not have a terrible 2 phase, I have been bugged by many a friend about how good they were. Well it seems as though my Jillian is going to do the deed for all 3 of them LOL, she is “spicy” as I have labelled it
I love making b-day cakes for my girls. So far I have done a butterfly, caterpillar and my all time fave was Jillian’s giraffe from last year it hurt me to cut it LOL. This year I am doing ladybug cupcakes for Kamryn’s school classe next week and her party I’m not sure, were are going to see Shrek.
Phew sorry for the mini-novel. Have a great longweekend!
I think we are beginning some trying times but on the whole Joey is a good kid and like you said, alot of it seems to be dependant on my level of patience that day. I have a student how turned into a monster just before she turned 3 but she is now 3.5 and I was thinking yesterday how much easier she is to deal with at the moment than she was 6 months ago. I guess it is just a phase was all need to experience our kids going through as they become bigger little people!
BIG hugs though because I know how hard it can be when you already have alot on your plate with other stuff and you want your normally well-behaved child back!!
I read somewhere that the fall-out in behavior after the addition of a sibling usually occurs around two months to five months after the birth. Maybe it’s just internal growing pains…
Hee hee, one of my kid brothers was a perfect angel until three. He’s now 27 and still hasn’t grown out of that “terrible x” stage.
Going camping with friends this weekend.
Feel better soon!
oh those trying times! It sounds like you’re doing all the ‘right’ things though by redirecting and reinforcing what is and isn’t appropriate behavior. I think as much as we drill it in to them we still have to realize they are kids and some times they are just going to do things like that.
Yeah Levi was a terrific two year old…as for three!!!!!
I pray that you get better soon. Being sick and having small kids …no fun and it does zap your energy. I do hope you have a good weekend.
I had a friend say to me once. It’s the terrible two’s the trying threes, and the fucking fours.
It’s tough, this 2 thing, whenever it comes. One thing I can say, despite being challenging, the shenanigans can be absolutely hysterical. The first time Briar put her hands on her hips and told me “Just stop talkin’ ’bout it mom!” I nearly shot coffee out of my nose.
Good luck sweet mama.
And my plans? If there’s a blank in blank I’ll have the new template stuff up soon and I can go play.
awww how cute, they are already playing together and looks like the little one is doing nappy nappy .. kisses and hugs
Oh, you are a better mom than I if you are going to MAKE a pinata. In Southern California, there are surely hundreds of places you can get them on the cheap. I’ll bake a cake, but you won’t get me in with the tissue paper and glue.