Contrary Kid

Jack spent most of Saturday naked.  He refused to wear even a diaper or “big boy underwear.”  No pants, either.  I am completely out of ideas and just trying to hold onto my patience (and failing).  Getting him out of the house is pretty impossible.  In order to get him to his dad’s yesterday we distracted him with a book long enough to get his diaper and pants and socks on, then the gig was up.  I grabbed him and stole away quickly to the car to wrestle him into his carseat before he could disrobe.  He cried and fought the entire time.

I don’t have a problem with him running around naked but it would be nice to be able to leave the house.  Also we had guests over and I had to explain that Jack has decided to become a nudist and is potty training.  He is grasping the toilet idea really well and has gone pee in the potty several times, but I have cleaned up several messes of both types and his bed now stinks of pee because he keeps stripping in the middle of the night.

Any and all ideas and input are welcome.  This has been an extremely challenging time and it feels like the newborn stage in so many ways.  I feel powerless!  At the same time I am proud of Jack for deciding to grow up.  It’s just that it’s happening so quickly!

Guilt guilt guilt

I am sure every mom suffers from guilt.  I am no exception, and it really does get ridiculous when I list everything out.  I bet I waste too much time feeling guilty.  Here is a (partial) list of things I feel guilty about in regard to my parenting:

• letting Jack watch TV
• giving Jack cookies (especially first thing in the morning)
• doing household chores instead of playing with Jack
• dinner consisting of chicken strips and hastily-cooked green beans (that he doesn’t eat) – what happen to the five food groups?
• saying no sometimes when Jack wants to nurse
• not having a solid nighttime routine
• every day that we don’t go outside
• putting the same socks on Jack two days in a row
• skipping baths
• leaving him at daycare or with his dad when he is crying
• giving in when he throws a tantrum about wearing shoes or a coat
• looking forward to the days he is with his dad
• losing my patience and yelling when he has hit or pinched or bitten me
• letting him wear pants that I just realized are too short

There are probably more but those were the things at the forefront of my mind this morning.  I know I’m a good mom; it’s just that I always see room for improvement!

Officially Two

I should have written this a week ago.  We are still celebrating Jack’s birthday in our house (at least, birthday presents keep arriving) so I will cut myself some slack and hope you can, too.

Just as I predicted, Jack had no idea what his birthday was about.  He woke up in a horrible mood, hollered through a (short) bath, and then refused to wear his pirate pants.  That is how he ended up at his party late and pantsless.  I didn’t worry too much about it because, hey, isn’t going around pantsless the epitome of two year old behavior?

Despite not knowing it was his day, Jack made the most of it by running around the rec room like a lunatic and trying on everyone else’s costumes (he got to be both a pirate Superman and a witch superman).  He also had a fabulous time tempting fate with the balloons – he loved to lay on them.  One poor little girl spent the entire party with her hands over her ears, terrified that the balloons would pop.

So what can I say about the two year old Jack?  He is not that different, and yet certainly more of a kid and less of a baby.  He no longer has loaf-like feet and chunky toddler legs; instead he is getting long and slim.  Physically, he can run and jump and throw a ball (although it doesn’t go very far), climb stairs, put a shirt on and, of course, draw. 

Jack has started telling his own brand of jokes.  It usually involves our game of “I see…”  For instance, yesterday as we drove to his aunt and uncle’s house in Richmond, we went back and forth naming the things we saw: grandma, grandpa, houses, cars.  Then Jack said he saw pigs and cows and giggled.  His way of saying he is kidding is to scrunch up his face, shake his head and say “No pigs and cows!” 

He recognizes some of the alphabet and can count to three (as in, “I have three monsters!”).  He has a pretty wide vocabulary, speaks in sentences, and has been practicing phrasing.  I often hear him repeating the same sentence over and over with different inflections.

Food continues to be interesting.  Jack will eat a wide variety of things but is pickier on some days than others.  He goes through cycles where he loves a certain food (i.e. baby carrots) and will consume mass quantities every day for a week.  Then he will suddenly decide he wants no more to do with that food!  So far this has happened with tomatoes, cream cheese, yogurt, raisins, grapes, and crackers.

Sleep is fairly decent most of the time.  Naps are 2-3 hours long once we can figure out a way to get him to sleep.  Most nights he is asleep by 10 and wakes up around 7:30.  The last week or so has seen some night waking due to that last 2-year molar but when he’s not teething, we are resting quite comfortably at night.

I’m still amazed that I have a two year old KID.  He has so few babylike behaviors left and it’s insane how quickly it flew by.  I hope I will always remember every moment of joy Jack has brought to my life.  I am so lucky to have him.

Great Moment

Last night Jack and I slow danced to “If I Didn’t Have You” playing over the Monsters, Inc. credits.

Yes I wouldn’t be nothin
If I didn’t have you
I wouldn’t know where to go
Or know what to do
I don’t have to say it (Aw say it anyway)
Cause we both know it’s true
I wouldn’t have nothin if I didn’t have
I wouldn’t have nothin if I didn’t have
I wouldn’t have nothin if I didn’t have
Wouldn’t have nothin if I didn’t have
Youuuuu

Being a mama is so special.

First Trip Away

My trip went well - better than I could have expected, really.  My boys made me proud!  Jack ate well, slept well, behaved well, and was incredibly adorable on the phone with me.  His face lit up when I arrived home yesterday!  It feels so good to know that the household can survive if I go away for a few days (except for the part where Joe’s job went bye bye, but that wasn’t completely unexpected).

The weather in Washington was sunny and beautiful.  Beth sent her husband to San Francisco so we could have a girl’s weekend, so we stayed up late and attempted to sleep in (apparently parenthood has destroyed my ability to sleep past 8am, though).  We went to a tulip festival, shopped at some outlets, treated ourselves to pedicures, watched a sappy movie (Waitress – very cute!), attended high tea, and strolled around Pike Place Market.  There was a lot of good food and special treats, too.  Fabulous!

I missed Joe and Jack so much while I was away.  As I sat in the airport waiting to board the plane that would take me away from them, I had to leave the gate briefly when a baby started crying because it was just too much for me in my nervous state.  I felt better as the weekend went by and Joe informed me that things were going well, but there were so many times when I wished that Jack was there to see the tulips or the space needle or the kitten playing in Beth’s backyard.

I wondered if Jack might decide to wean himself while I was away but, as I suspected, the first word out of his mouth when he saw me was “milk.”  And though he had gone to sleep just fine without nursing the previous 3 nights, he absolutely wanted to nurse to sleep last night.  I didn’t mind at all because it gave me a chance to snuggle and kiss him and remind my senses of all that I missed about my little boy.

Grumble grumble grumble

Daylight Savings must have been developed as a torture method for households with kids.  It’s really, really unfair that we have to go through this schedule shifting twice a year!  I can only imagine how daycares are coping.

Jack went to bed late (inevitably!) last night.  This morning I hid out in the second bathroom drinking coffee while Joe woke and dressed him.  Jack was extremely unhappy to be awake at such an early hour.  I felt terrible for hiding out while Joe did all the work, but we were all on a tight schedule this morning and if I had shown my face it would have meant a good 20 minutes of nursing.  Thank goodness I had that cup of coffee in my hands because otherwise I would have run into the other room to scoop Jack up in my arms to soothe and rock him.  Joe did a wonderful job, though.  It was nice to get the insight into how he went about the morning routine as if I were not there.  He was so sweet and sympathetic to our little boy and Jack was calm by the time they walked out the door.  That part felt good.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a long week.  Somehow we have to figure out how to adjust to the time shift and get back in a routine.  I surely wouldn’t mind advice on how to go about that.  I hope you all are having an easier time of it!

Friday tidbits

Jack is so cute.  Last night he got the biggest kick out of helping me do laundry.  He loves to push my rolling laundry cart and throw wet clothes into the dryer.  I’m amazed at how much easier it is to get toddlers to do things when you ask for their help.  He’ll even throw things in the trash for me!

Pretend playing continues to be a hit.  Last night he was pouring from a cup and bowl (both were empty) and pretending to drink from the cup.  I just watched him with amusement.  He still loves talking on the phone, and he has taken to carrying around an old purse of mine.

Jack’s quickly learning how to speak in sentences and it’s kind of unnerving.  “Hi mama” and “it’s cute!” and “I’m tired!”  He also repeats EVERYTHING so I was cracking up last night when he copied me and Joe with awesome, cool, and sure.  Unfortunately he knows how to say shit now, too (that’s one of Joe’s).  I’m surprised it took him 18+ months for that, honestly, because we have terribly dirty mouths.

Music is also big right now.  Recently while riding in the car and listening to the radio, Natasha Bedingfeld came on the station.  Not being a big fan, I turned the station immediately and Jack started FREAKING OUT. At first it didn’t click and we tried to calm him down to no avail…so I changed the station back and he promptly quieted. I was in shock because usually he is a rocker (he is the little king of the Meloik and headbanging) but then he fell asleep and the world made sense again – he wanted something dull on so he could nap!  But he actually does like Britney Spears…

Children as Masters of Torture

Jack went to bed at 8 last night and I did a little dance, pumping my fist in in triumph.  I thought maybe he was getting back on track.  Over the last few days he has been sleeping better at night, even sleeping through.  I had started to breathe a sigh of relief that perhaps the sleep regression was behind us…

Kids are master torturers, aren’t they?  Absolutely brilliant.  Just went I decided to slide into bed, Jack awoke.  I got him settled and then I had just drifted off when he woke again.  The number of times he repeated this has been lost in a foggy haze but let me just say that it was excrutiatingly frequent.  I ended up with maybe 2 hours of patched together sleep.

My brother-in-law and I commiserated this morning, as his daughter has been doing the same thing.  We wondered why no one tells you about these hard times before you have kids, and could only conclude that misery loves company.  I suspect there is an equal component of fried parent-brain that turns any potential warnings into nonsensical gibberish.  Either that or in becoming a parent we learn to speak a different language, one that only other parents can understand.

I think that if you can’t understand what a parent is saying, you can safely assume it is some version of, “I am so tired my face is going to explode.”