The other day in the car the topic of Michael Phelps came up – I don’t remember why. This was her monologue as part of the conversation. She kind of said it in spurts as she was thinking about it.
“Oh, when I grow up I am not smoking”
“and if I drink it will just be like one glass of wine at book club or something”
“not every day, just like at book club or bunco”
As some of you know our house was a construction zone for a couple of months when we decided to have our master bathroom remodeled.
One of the more pleasant memories was how Elise reacted. Elise had gotten very used to people coming in and out of the house, shouting “HI” as they went back and forth through the house. I guess she had heard us warn her about getting in their path a few times, since after her nap one day she busted out of her room into the living room where they are working and shouted “watch out workies!”
I was reminded of the Katy Perry song this week in retelling stories from the Turtle classroom. On Wednesday, when I dropped off Lis, I was beaming with pride as Ms. Iva told me how little Lis had distributed all the lunch boxes to the 11 little MDO kids in her class. Apparently, the teachers line up all the lunch kits on the table while the little ones wait for them to get to the table. Elise, watching this process since the beginning, decided to bounce up and distribute the lunch kits to the proper kid. She got them all right. She’s an expert mimic. Ms. Iva also mentioned how she has become the best sharer in the class. Just say the word, “share” or “___’s turn” and she immediately drops the toy.
Then, I go pick her up on Friday and I hear from Amy, having already picked up Lucy, that Elise is apparently in a crabby mood. Indeed, I pick her up and she won’t give Ms. Iva her kiss good-bye. I know that’s not a good sign. Ms. Iva says that Elise has been terrible and has been throwing down anything and everything they give her. I know that action well. I particularly love it when she throws down her milk and we get a nice spray of milk on the floor.
Same baby?
Well, I got my first “time out” tonight, care of Elise. Here’s how it went down.
I was trying to clean up the playroom a bit. For those of you who have kids with messy rooms or play areas you might use the same technique I do — go through the room and start tossing things in the general area where they belong. Things are so randomly assorted in the room there really can’t be a better way.
In my path I spotted “bear” and “dolly”, her two lovies. Those go in her bedroom (it was nearly bedtime) so I tossed those into the hallway from clear across the room. What I forgot was that her lovies have an alarm system. Bear has a distinct rattle that all of us could pick out of an audio lineup. Little did I know as bear flew through the air and landed in the hallway, Elise’s head whipped around. To her surprise, as she realized I had just thrown bear, she sees dolly flying through the air to follow.
Something Elise has picked up (I assume from Joelle) is the habit of throwing stuff when she doesn’t get what she wants, so she knows that when you throw something you aren’t supposed to, that’s bad. Especially food on the floor. Within seconds she realized the appropriate thing to do – Daddy was in big trouble.
“You don’t throw bear!” “Go to your room right now!” She grabbed my hand and led me into my room. She was very determined and was walking briskly like I’m sure Petie does when she sends Joelle to her room. Then I heard her go back into the playroom (where Petie was) and say “BAD!”, like “what was that guy thinking?”
Later Joelle came bounding out of her room saying “I heard you got a time out ’cause you chucked bear.” Yeah, yeah, rub it in.
Ok, so we’ve had our share of battles with the Jojo lately. She’s headstrong and, well, I guess just like me. My mom’s idea to buy a vintage Sea Wee doll (she had one left from my childhood and loves it) and offer it as incentive to be good is the only thing that has even remotely worked to get her to snap out of these tantrums. …and when she isn’t having a tantrum, she is a gloriously sweet little girl. I mean really sweet. She makes us sometimes have an audible, “awww. That was so nice.”
For example, she came home from a party yesterday with a goody bag. Chris asked if she liked sweet tarts. She said, “yes, but why?” He said, “well, I would’ve liked them if you didn’t like them.” At first, she didn’t really say much, but in a little bit, she showed up with the candy and gave them to Chris. Joelle loves her stuff and her candy, this was amazing.
Secondly, we left a party today where she got a diary as a goody. She asked why it had a lock on it. I said, “so you can write down your private thoughts and your friends, mom, dad and Lisie can’t read them.” She said, “but you guys are my family. I trust you guys. Maybe not Elise. When she can talk, she may tell people stuff. You and dad are my best friends though.” Sniff.
Chris was getting Elise ready to go over to his mom’s house today. He came parading down the hall with her little vintage Care Bear shirt. He said, “I like this shirt.” I said, “yeah, it’s adorable, but she doesn’t like it. at all. It’s ok, if you sneak it on, she can’t take it off.”
It seems like putting clothes on Elise can sort of be like taking down a bear. She twists and fights like a little crazed horse. I was watching the action and thinking, “I know Chris is thinking what a big head she has,” as he finally got the collar of the shirt over her head. Elise, realizing she had been beat, took a super quick glance down at her belly. She turned her face to the sky and said, “I hate this shirt.” In her adorable, cute baby voice. Chris and I laughed so hard we had tears streaming down our cheeks.
My last baby turned two this past week. I think our visit to the doctor highlights a lot of her spirit. She was so much easier to entertain in our half hour seclusion in the holding pen. The last time was torture, but this time she calmly colored and ate raisins from her box, one at a time (great for passing time!) When the doctor asked if she scribbled, I was able to hold up the evidence.
When he asked if she was counting, I was able to reply, “yes, she counts to twenty. She doesn’t fully comprehend what she’s doing, but she does it!” I was amazed when we were at a park a week ago and she started counting, “one, two, three, four, six (she skipped five),” as she marched up the steps. When she started again, she started at seven and counted up. When she gets to the teens, they all sound alike, “eoiteen, eoiteen, eoiteen.”
He asked how her talking was coming along, if she was stringing one or two words together. I was able to proudly respond, “the other day, she said, “oh, no, I left it right there.” We all love it when she says, “there it is, there it is boots.” Her talking is just so fun. I delight in almost everything she says and the creative way she is able to get a lot across to us.
Our appointment was almost over and Dr. Pielop was trying to get her to open her mouth. She knew what he was doing and wouldn’t budge those lips. He tried to entertain her by pretending to eat a raisin from her box. She looked at him and then down at the box. She looked back up at him and her eyes said, “dude, the box is closed, you honestly think you can trick me?” She proceeded to pop off the chair and march to the door. She opened it and started walking out to the hall, in her diaper and socks. “We’re done here.”
I cajoled her back with a juice box and Dr. Pielop had to use the stick to see down her throat. He said he hated using it because it bothered most kids (gag reflex.) Elise was tough as nails and he commented on her stoicism. She didn’t flinch during shots, but that didn’t surprise me either. Although she asks for, “baby bunny booboo,” every time she scratches herself or stubs a toe at home, she definitely has a high tolerance for pain.