October Toddler

I figure I should get some notes/musings in about Reese before things get too hectic around here. I wish I could say that the last few weeks have been filled with blissful cooperation on the part of our little one, but for the most part it's been quite the opposite. Kevin keeps reminding me that it's "The Terrible Twos" for a reason. I think our biggest issue is boundary testing/setting--now that she can communicate ALL of her needs and desires, it's hard for her to understand that she's not in charge of everything.

* School is going great for Reese. Her teachers mentioned that she's very empathetic and gets a little upset when other kids in the class cry, but otherwise she's doing well. Her reports from school usually include, "I played games." On Monday she actually got to wear pants to school thanks to the "cold" front that came through. (We were in shorts by the afternoon, but hey, I'll take anything at this point.) We have Reese's Open House at school in two weeks and will get to see some more of her work and projects then. Next weekend is also the school's 30th birthday celebration and carnival.


* Why nap? That seems to be the question in Reese's mind lately. I think she has finally realized that the world continues to turn after she's in bed sleeping, and THAT is totally unacceptable. (What she doesn't realize is that nowadays Mommy needs an afternoon nap just as much, if not more, than she does.) She definitely isn't ready to shed her one nap, but getting her down has become quite a process. As if all her routines weren't enough (pajamas, tooth brushing, stories, potty time, and lullabies), she now is trying to stall bedtime with as many last-chance-requests as possible. Even if she has sat on the potty five minutes earlier, when it's finally time to crawl into bed, she suddenly feels like she has to go again. Or she needs a glass of water, or she needs one more hug, or, or, or.... It's hard not to give into the potty request since wet/dirty diapers have cut short naps in the past, but drawing a line on everything else brings the house down. When Kevin came home early on Friday he got to hear the pre-nap meltdown in full effect. Unfortunately, when Reese melts down prior to nap, she always sleeps for short amounts of time, wakes up screaming (as if she's picking up where she left off), and is a cranky girl for the rest of the afternoon. Our solution has been to try and move both bedtime and nap time 30 minutes earlier in the hopes that our issue is being over-tired. It's working better, but her negotiation skills are still something to contend with. I'm finding it's also hard to get her down as early as I'd like on days she goes to school since pick up (at 1) coincides with nap time--the time it takes us to drive home and get her ready seems to escalate our problems on those days.

* Reese is really into dressing and undressing herself. While she's been working on the undressing part for some time now, she now likes to put her socks, shoes, and pajamas on independently (or as much as possible). From what was written above, you can imagine how well the pajama thing goes down some days before nap. She's gotten particularly good with her shoes, though. Thanks to Eric and Chesley, Reese has inherited at least 4 pairs of hand-me-down shoes (a pair of boots, two pairs of patent leather dress ups, and one pair of tennis shoes). One of her favorite past times lately, is to go to her room and play dress up with her shoes. She can put them all on successfully (including buckling them) and even gets them on the right feet most of the time (we've told her the buckles go on the outside, and that seemed to help). She can often be found tromping around the house in mismatched shoes.

* Medical notes: Athletes foot has resolved itself (although with her constant shoe switches I was worried we'd never kick it), but we prematurely wished her wart good bye. It has since come back, and we've resumed treatment. Reese got her flu "shot" this week. She now qualifies for the Flu Mist instead of the injection. It was WAY less traumatic and will be what I request in future flu seasons for her as well. The only draw back is that this year (due to her age and the fact she did not get the H1N1 shot last year) she has to return to the pedi to get a second dose in a few weeks--right around the time baby sister is arriving. Reese is also SO controlling that she is going through another bout of constipation. (I know she'll love hearing how I shared this with the world when she's older.) Her diet is about as high fiber as I can make it and she is great about drinking fluids, so the issue is NOT the consistency of her bowel movements, just the fact that she doesn't want to have them. We're not sure if this fear comes from a traumatic experience with a painful bowel movement in the past or a dislike of having a dirty diaper (although she won't go in the potty)--but it's just about one of the most frustrating things I can imagine. We watch her walk on her tippy toes, break out in a sweat, and cry in her immense effort NOT to have a bowel movement. After some research and talking with the pedi, we're including daily doses of a stimulant free laxative as well as an incentive program to try and CONVINCE her that pooping is fun. So this week I broke out my teaching boxes, located some stickers and charts, and we're officially doling out stickers for making poopie IN her diaper. From what we've heard, it may take weeks or even months to reverse this crazy psychological obsession. Good thing I've got lots of stickers. So far,the sticker thing has been really successful, and she earned a few today with much less drama than most of this week.

* Other developmental notes: Reese likes to sing her ABCs (she calls them "the ABCBs") and loves the calendar Mommy hung up in her room. She puts a new number on it each day and it helps her keep track of days when she goes to school and days when she stays home. After only a few weeks using it, she loves to point to the days and count and recite the days of the week.
I'm going to try and get her rendition of the ABCs on video soon.