Time Out

Violet has added a new command to her arsenal - up.

Sometimes it comes out like "hup! hup! hup!" when she's done with dinner or knows it's time to get out of the car.

Other times it's a wailing "uuuuuuuup!" complete with arms stretched in the air, often when my own arms are full of something else.

Either way, it's one of the more annoying demands she has learned. I'm trying to be patient, I am. But I can't help but wonder if my advanced little girl is hitting her terrible twos a bit early.

See, Violet's also mastered the word "no". Ironically, she still can't say yes or even nod. So every question is answered with "no" or sometimes "nuh?" her little voice trailing up at the end to turn it into its own question.

Not only does she answer questions with no, she also lets the dreaded word fly whenever she's the slightest bit displeased. When I turn off the tv. When I remove her plate because she's tossing food on the floor after being asked to stop. No has even been accompanied by a disrespectful swat of the hand (she batted at a little girl in the library the other day and I thought I would die of mortification).

I feel like we've reached a crucial stage in our parenting where it's time to really start laying the foundation for how we are going to rear this child, and I don't want to botch it, but she makes me so mad sometimes! Somehow I have to teach her that she's not allowed to just say no to her mommy because she feels like it... at least not until she's 15!

So... we've started time out. The pediatrician said it was fine (it was actually one of the topics in our 15-month well check packet), my trusted mom friends said it was time, and hopefully the grandmas won't freak out when they hear about it. If she's old enough to sass me, she's old enough to pay for it!

And trust me when I say that Girlfriend knows exactly what she's doing. I'm not punishing the innocent, don't worry. Case in point: the other day during our neighborly dinner, Violet kept whining about my water. She had her own cup (with a lid, because she hasn't mastering drinking topless lidless) but no, that wasn't good enough. She wanted my water. Finally, just to give us all some peace, I gave her a sip. But then she wanted to stick her nasty, grubby little hand in my pristine, refreshing water. I repeatedly asked her to stop, in a tone that escalated in firmness until finally I took her hand out of the glass and said sternly, "If you put your hand in my water again, you are going to time out." Well, she meekly withdrew. We resumed eating. And 30 seconds later, her fingers were slyly submerging themselves again.

A collective gasp went up from the table. And if there's one thing I do know about parenting (or teaching or life in general), it's that you have to follow through. So I promptly whisked my disobedient child out of her chair with an ominous "uh-oh" and plopped her in time out. Then I returned to the dining room where we all listened to Violet holler her head off. But she stayed put for the full minute, and I give her credit for that. I'm not exactly sure she understood the lesson, and just to be safe I decided that dinner was over for that particular night.

Oh well, it's a work in progress. I'm pretty sure I deserve a few timeouts myself every now and again.

And just to prove she's not all rotten... May I present: Chocolate Chip Muffins for Breakfast (Not My Brightest Mom Moment): An Act in Three Parts

Bed Head

Whatever

Cheese!

Calling the Dawgs!

"Goooooooo Dawgs! Sic 'em! Woof woof woof woof woof!"

Rainbow Bright

Needless to say, Violet had quite a bit of fun in her splash pool the other day.

Baby Shower Envy

This weekend we celebrated the upcoming arrival of my friend Jeanette's baby girl. You might remember my story of helping out a friend... Well, since she outed herself in the comments, I feel like I can share a little more of her story. Jeanette, a sweet friend from my neighborhood, has been in and out of the hospital lately, getting monitored in these last few weeks of pregnancy. Earlier this week I had the great honor of hanging out with her there while we waited for her husband to arrive home from a business trip, and since she was again in the hospital this weekend, that's where we got to have her baby shower!

Despite the last minute change in location, the event was beautiful. (As in, I'm totally jealous and am already planning to steal some of these adorable ideas for any upcoming showers or birthdays I host.) And as for the icing on the cake, mom and baby were both doing so well that Jeanette was discharged the next day! 

 

 

1. Cupcakes with a bit of sparkle from Creations Bakery in Cumming.
2. A stunning "congrats!" banner made by my crafty neighbor K. I'm thinking a "Mrs. Loughman" version for my classroom,  yes?
3. Refreshing frozen fruit cups (and a glimpse of the photographer in the spoon).
4. Milk bottle beverageware, such an adorable idea.
5. The glowing mama-to-be.
6. Party in progress.

Hitting the Road

So in the near future, our little family of three will be hitting the road, headed the 10 hours north to Ohio for a family reunion.

Once again, I am afraid. It was one thing to jump in the car with my neighbors and head to the beach. For one thing, that journey was only seven hours. Plus, Violet was in the car with two little boys she knows and loves who kept her entertained (or at least distracted with their own complaints... hey, misery loves company). But this time it's just me, Matt and Violet. She'll be alone in the backseat. Well, alone with her DVD players and Elmo and as many snacks as I can toss her way.

Does anyone have any brilliant tips to share on how to get us all there in one piece, sanity intact?

As I see it, we have three options, none of which is overly appealing to me right now.

Option 1 (and Matt's favorite): Leave around dinner time. Drive halfway, with the intent that Violet will fall asleep in the car. Somehow wrangle sleeping babe from dark car, through bright lobby, into hotel room where pack-n-play must be silently set up. Everyone sleeps beautifully, rises refreshed and we trek the rest of the way the next day. (Note my escalating sarcasm as I contemplate the potential number of things that will go wrong here.) Worst case scenario, Violet wakes up when we get to the hotel, and after sleeping soundly for the last leg of the trip, decides it's time to bust a move in a rented room the size of our master bath while irate neighbors bang on the walls and ceiling.

Option 2 (which could totally work, Matt!): Go to bed early and set the alarm for 4 a.m. Pop a sleeping Violet into her car seat and stealthily creep onto the dark highway. Make the journey in one day, arriving in time for Violet to get her wiggles out in the hotel pool, surrounded by grandparents who are eager to let us take a nap. (It's sounding better and better, Matt, admit it!) Worst case, Violet wakes up at 4 a.m. and gives us guff for a few miles. She is bound to sleep at some point in the trip, right?

Option 3: We suck it up, leave at a godly hour in the morning (say, 9-ish) and make the drive straight through the day. This is what we did for Florida and it worked okay (see first paragraph for my concerns with this option).

Option 4, driving through the night, was discounted due to the fact that it's a) dangerous, b) dumb, and c) how insane would I have to be to arrive at a new destination with no sleep exactly when my child is waking from a blissful slumber, ready to rumble?

Option 5, flying, was taken off the table due to a) cost, b) Violet's inability to sit still for more than 20 minutes at a time, and c) the sheer amount of crap we're lugging with us (pack-n-play, stroller, booster seat, suitcases, Elmo, Babydoll (pronounced BAH-boo), miscellaneous toys, snacks, diaper bag, extra measures of grace, mercy, a large heap of patience, some extra patience in case the first measure runs out, some extra sanity while we're at it... you get the picture).

So what do you guys think? Any advice? Any horror stories to share? No, scratch that, I don't want to know. I only want helpful, sympathetic comments revealing the secrets of hitting the road with a child.

Hmm... maybe a new poll is in order!

Lend a Hand

Yesterday I got to help out a friend. Doesn't that always make you feel good? It wasn't necessarily the most convenient thing to do, since it required first babysitting my neighbor's boys and Violet for the morning, and then tag-teaming and leaving all three kids in my neighbor's care so together we could help our friend. But I wasn't looking for convenient. I was looking to be a good friend, to help someone who really needed another person to be there with them. And along the way I think we've grown closer. And that's fun. Besides, it was actually quite an exciting mission to be on, and really, I'm honored to have been a part of the day! (Sorry to be so cryptic, but said friend reads le blog, so I'm going overboard on the privacy patrol.) And then I got to drive her hubby's fancy Z4 home, which, once I got over my fear of coming within 37 feet of anyone else on the road, was actually quite enjoyable. The roar of the engine... the envious looks from other drivers (which quickly changed to puzzled amusement as they wondered what unshowered, no makeup me was doing in that slick little black car)... even the GPS lady had a sexier voice. Too bad there's no back seat for the baby, or I might be tempted to tell Matt we need to upgrade!

Someone else has been lending a helping hand lately...

Say, Dad, need some help with that mulch?

Yeah, he missed a spot...

Since I was gone for most of the afternoon yesterday, Violet and I have been catching up today. We took a walk down to our neighborhood park, where they happen to have a really fun water fountain.

Contemplating the mysteries of "wah-duh".

After getting wet (I wasn't planning on letting her play in it, but the alluring pull of water will not be denied) we rushed home so we could make storytime at the library. There were fewer people today, so Violet was able to see the story and puppet show better and actually follow along. She is getting so good at identifying all the animals and their sounds. She has cow, duck, sheep (we've been singing a lot of Old MacDonald), dog and cat (with respective sound) all down. She can also identify a ton of body parts on command. Besides the usual eye, mouth, nose, hair, Violet has recently added elbow and cheeks to her repertoire. She's such a smartie.

Violet Pasta-Hands

Good and Tired

Are you guys good and tired after the weekend? I am. So is Violet, if this picture is any indication. The other day we were playing outside, running through the mini water park constructed with the neighbor's hose and our splash pool. Violet was having a grand old time, so much so that she zoomed right past her usual lunch and naptime. I decided to take a chance and get some lunch in her before putting her down. Well, I was happily sucking down my leftovers and Violet was contentedly eating her hummus and grapes. Finally it struck me that she was being awfully quiet. No food had been flung on the floor, no "more" had been uttered. So I look up... and find Violet practically asleep in her chair, lunch smeared all over her face as she wearily rubbed her eyes. Needless to say, she napped well that day!

Speaking of sleeping, I had an attack of insomnia Friday night. That. Sucked. My condolences to anyone suffering from it. I don't know if it was the migraine medicine (which contains caffeine but has never affected me in the past) I took right before bed or what, but I watched the clock slowly tick from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. And each hour that passed found me thinking, dumbfounded, surely I won't be awake until 2... surely I'll be asleep before 3... I tried sleeping on my stomach, my side, my back... I made Matt switch sides of the bed... I tried the couch... I threw in the towel and watched tv... I went back to bed, thinking, surely this time...

Saturday we attended the wedding of a girl I teach with. It ended up being a beautiful affair, held in a rustic barn not too far from where we live. I say ended up, because the wedding started with a crazy thunderstorm that had all of us a little nervous. The ceremony was under a lakeside covered patio, and at one point the wind blew about 50 chairs across the floor and the arch the couple was due to say vows under tumbled to the ground. Then a huge tree by the lake came crashing down. It was pretty wild. But things calmed down as the ceremony got underway, by the end the birds were all singing, and the evening ended with the most spectacular sunset. A good omen for the happy couple, I think. Plus it was a blast seeing my first grade team. Not even my lack of sleep kept me from hitting the dance floor and partying the night away!

Aren't we pretty?! (Thanks for the photo Katie!)

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day. Matt's parent came up to babysit and spent the night, so we all had brunch the next morning. Then we spent a lazy rest of the afternoon. I bought Matt three ties (in hopes that he likes at least one of them!) and the three of us ate a low-key dinner together. Altogether, not a bad weekend! Tiring, yes, but good all the same.

While Daddy's Away

Matt was out of town on business this week, so to break up the boredom, Violet and I headed south to visit with the grandparents. Single parenting is tough, ya'll. I have all the respect in the world for those who do it. At the end of each day, I was exhausted, but I stayed up an hour or two despite my desperate need for sleep because it was the only time all day that I had to myself. To shower. To watch something other than Sesame Street. To think.

Anyway, enough about me. One of the highlights of our little trip was meeting baby Jackson, first child of our good friends, Brian and Kelly. He is a munchkin! Seeing him in all his four-month-old glory, it is hard to imagine Violet was ever that small. As sweet as babies are, wow are they vastly more interesting as they get older. It really makes me appreciate Violet's age all the more. I am loving this stage in her development!

Such a cougar!

It was also great talking to a fellow new mom. Kelly is the first of our group to have kids after us, and it was so refreshing to have someone to swap war stories with. It's a relief to know I'm not the only one who experienced some of the new mom thoughts and feelings. Plus it's just nice to see friends and have adult conversations for once! There's only so many times I can sing Itsy Bitsy Spider without wanting to poke my eye out.


Next we had some pool time at Grandma's house. The grandmas brought  up a little splash pool for Violet to play with at our house, but she didn't really seem to love getting in like I thought she would. But she loves her ducky bathtub and totally understands how to sit and splash in it. So it has become our new backyard pool. That's not too redneck, is it?


Other only-in-Peachtree City activities included the requisite golf cart ride that Violet enjoyed perhaps a little too much. First she decided she wanted to drive. Then she decided she was just going to move in and live in the golf cart in the garage. Finally I managed to get her back to Mimi's house, only to have her drag me by the hand through the yard and across the street before I realized she was beelining it for the neighbor's cart. Girlfriend was brokenhearted when I had to explain we couldn't get in the golf cart, that the strangers across the road probably wouldn't appreciate her taking such brash ownership of it.

Only ten years and counting before she's allowed to drive one!

One morning we took a stroll to Lake Peachtree to hang out with the ducks. Don't I come from a beautiful part of the world?

"Dut!"

Lake Peachtree

Finally it was time to head back north, but not without a final meal. I've discovered that Violet loves corn on the cob. Can't you tell?

Can't think of a caption hilarious enough to capture her expression... Feel free to contribute!

Speaking Up

Well, the lazy days of summer are upon us. I've been doing my best to keep Violet busy, and she's been doing her best to keep my attention on her 99 percent of the time. So far I'd say she's winning.

Violet meets a kitten for the first time. She is still a bit unclear on the meaning of "soft hands". No animals were harmed.

It is amazing to me how quickly Violet is growing and changing. Every day brings a new, surprising discovery about what she has learned. For instance, I was singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider to her the other day, and all of a sudden she started doing the spider motion! I guess she learned it in daycare. But even more, when we read a book together and came to the picture of the spider, she started doing the song motions. She totally connected the two. It's that kind of stuff that gets me - seeing her building those connections.

She's also learned quite a few words over the last week or two. Top three are: cheese, milk, juice. (Sensing a trend?) In fact, opening the refrigerator door is done at your own peril, since it is always accompanied by a little monkey hollering for "yoose!" (juice) and pitching a rather impressive fit if the beverage is not rapidly delivered. At least she's also learning the sign for "please" and is always good about enthusiastically signing "thank you" if I remind her.

Two other vocabulary words added lately are "stuck" and "hot". Violet was hanging out in the neighbor's playset the other day while I stood by talking when all of a sudden I was interrupted by cries of "tut! tut!" I had no idea what Violet was talking about until I finally turned to her and realized her foot was stuck between the fort and the slide. Smart girl. The "hot" thing is a little more complicated. She calls our coffee mugs "hot," for indeed they are. But lately she's been asking if everything is hot, from her food to the playground equipment. To be fair, the slides and swings sometimes do get pretty steamy under our fair Georgia sun. And true, sometimes food straight from the pot to plate is a little warm to the touch. But more and more I'm having to convince my little friend that "it's not hot, you can eat it... you can touch it... it's not hot".

And since Violet is doing so much growing and changing, I decided it was time for our house to do a little accommodating. I've decided to turn our sunroom, previously the room we eat in off the kitchen, into Violet's playroom. There is no way I'm going to get her to play in our bonus room upstairs all by herself, especially since the room is rapidly looking like we're auditioning for Hoarders: Buried Alive. Instead, I think we'll have a better chance of getting Noodlehead to play independently if she's more conveniently located in the middle of all the action (read: within eyeshot of mommy at all times). It's still a work in progress, but at least we have some new storage to hold the migration of all her toys from the living room. That's right, we are reclaiming our house! Ideally, a cute rug, some beanbags or other seating, and a tv/dvd set up will follow. We'll need to downgrade the size our our table and put up some kid-friendly artwork (Ikea, I hear your siren song!) to make it complete, but I think we have a good start.

Exploring the new playroom. Also, cutest outfit ever, a la Costco!

All Dressed Up

In all the riding in cars with boys Violet has been doing lately, I totally forgot to share pictures from our recent date night!

It's wedding season, and this past Saturday Matt and I were off to see my pal Jody get hitched. I had a flirty new dress for the occasion, my man got himself a new suit, and Mimi was on hand to take care of Violet. Everyone had a wonderful time!

Mimi introduced Violet to the wonders of the purse. I think Violet is going to want her own now! (As long as it comes with a set of credit cards, that is!)

Girls' night in!

Walking a mile in Daddy's shoes.

Heading out on the town. (You would not believe how many times we had to take this photo before we got one without Noodlehead in it. Girlfriend wanted her share of the spotlight!)

The morning after. Violet looks more rough than Matt! It was that one last glass of milk that put her over the edge, I guess.

Both Hands on the Wheel

No shoes, no service...

I took Violet to Publix the other day and for the first time let her ride in one of the fancy car carts. She loved it. And she expressed this new-found joy at the top of her lungs, all around the store.

We might be sticking to regular grocery carts from now on.

Love Bug

Finally, a car! I've always wanted to ride in one of these things! Now, if only I had a driver...

Ah ha! A willing chauffeur! He's so safety conscious, fastening his seatbelt and everything. And he's so cute!

Think he'll notice if I do the fake yawn, arm around him move?

The open road! Let's run away together! We've almost made it!

That's right, buddy, step on it!

Car trouble, sigh.  And there he goes, tinkering under the hood with his plastic shovel, thinking he can fix things. Call AAA already, I'm late for snack time! Such a typical guy, sheesh.