Terrifying Twos

Olivia seems to have decided that she's going to make the most of being two. She is fulfilling the expectation of a two-year-old being spirited, tenacious, and strong-willed, and that's my kind way of explaining it. The other day she caught me completely off guard and scared the living-day-lights out of me. We were driving on I-70 at about 70 miles an hour. She was having a full-on I'm-going-to-scream-until -one-of -us-passes-out tantrums when somehow she wiggled free from the top straps of her car seat. At this point she thought opening the back door would be a good idea. The doors were of course locked, but if you pull on the handle twice the door will open. And this is exactly what she did while we were speeding down the highway. I about died. Of course there was no shoulder to pull over onto, so I had to reach back and try to hold the door closed while still trying to drive. Then this determined little one started grabbing at my hand to pull it off while simultaneously trying to push the door open wider. I'm screaming like I've never screamed before, and Olivia is screaming right back at me. It was unbelievably terrifying. I finally found enough space to pull over, but I didn't really know what to do. I didn't want to get out of the car because it was getting dark and cars were flying by us. So I told her NEVER to open the door, and if she did she would get a time-out. A time-out seems like such a wimpy response, but I didn't know what else to say. In shock, I drove home. Once I got home and calmed down a bit, Yale and I realized that we can set the locks so that someone sitting in the back seat cannot open the doors when they're locked. I've also been pulling Olivia's car seat straps super tight. She hates it, but I see no other alternative. Boy, do I ever hope this is a stage!!!!

Scrubbidy Dubbidy Doooo!

I just got done giving Sophia a bath. We've graduated from using the plastic baby bathtub to just laying her down in the regular bathtub. I think she enjoys getting a bath, but she tends to get real stiff once she gets in the water. She straightens and extends her legs. This makes it very hard to get all of those leg rolls clean because the skin is all squished together. It takes some work to get her to relax enough so that I can get all of those folds of skin clean. Often people comment on what a happy baby she is. This is true. She smiles easily and is very laid back. The only thing that seems to bother her is if she's really hungry or when she's teething, which she seems to be doing a lot lately. Fortunately, we found these little homeopathic teething tablets that really seem to help. We put two under her tongue, and she conks out soon after. With all the teething she's been doing, it seems like we should be seeing a tooth soon. It looks like the breast feeding days are coming to an end. I've had to supplement Sophia's feedings with formula ever since she was born, but within the past couple of weeks I haven't been able to keep up with her. It got to the point where I would breast feed her, and then right after she would drink 3-5 ounces from a bottle. Now, I'm breast feeding her about twice a day, and I don't expect that to last too much longer. I've always struggled with producing enough milk. I have to really stay on top of it with pumping after I breast feed (even if nothing comes out) to keep up my supply, and with 2 kids I just don't have the time to do that, so I'm not surprised that my supply has dropped off. I'm sad to see the breast feeding days come to an end with Sophia because it's a time of such closeness and I know it's good for her. At the same time, I'm happy to not have to worry hurrying home to feed her, leaking in public, using a breast pump, and wearing goofy bras.

The Terrific Twos

Reasons why they call it the Terrible Twos: Scene One Olivia: (whining) Want cheese! Cheeese!! Mom: Okay. Hang on. (1 minute later after cutting a slice of cheese)Here you go, Sweetie. Here's some cheese. Olivia: (grabs cheese, throws it and yells) No cheese! No like cheese! Scene Two Olivia: (whining) Hug! Hug! Mom: Okay. Let me put Sophia down. (Mom picks up and hugs Olivia) Olivia: No hug! Want down! No hugs! Scene 3 Olivia: (whining) Poopy! Poopy diaper!!! Mom: Oh. Let's go change your diaper. (picking up Olivia) Olivia: (screaming and squirming to get free) No diaper! No diaper! Diaper dry! No poopy! Now, don't get me wrong. Olivia is a great kid. Both our children, overall, have been very easy. Some people don't even believe me when I tell them that, at times, Olivia can be very challenging because she's so well behaved with others, but it's true. Sometimes she really puts Yale and I through the ringer. I guess it's just part of being 2. To me, it seems like she's hormonal, but her doctor says she's not (Yes, I asked the doctor if 2-year-olds have hormonal surges that affect them emotionally). She has such extreme mood swings that she reminds me of me when I was pregnant. One minute she's running across the room to give me an unsolicited hug, and the next minute, for no apparent reason, she's hollering at me like I'm the devil. I guess this is where the psychological challenges of parenting begins. On a more positive note... Olivia has started to become more interested in letters. Her favorite letter at the moment is R. She can also identify Q, A, H, P and sometimes K. I get a kick out of it when we're out and about and she says, "That's R". Her interest in letters took off when Grandma and Grandpa Kaul gave her these magnetic letters that you put in this little box-shaped doohickey and the doohickey sings a little song to go with the letter. Like for R it sings, "R. R says rrr. Every letter makes a sound, and R says rrrr." As you can imagine, Yale and I sing that song in our sleep, but she loves it so it's worth it. She even has this little twirling dance that she does when she hears the song. Sophia continues to melt our hearts. She is really quite adorable. I'm sad to report that her hair is no longer dark, like mine. Instead it is quite blond and very cute. We got the girls' pictures taken at Sears recently. Sophia's turned out so cute. There's one with her in just a diaper, kicking up her legs. It really captures all of her adorable chub rolls, which as I say every time, I absolutely love! She's not the super sleeper she used to be. She is now sleeping in the crib (Yes, that means Olivia has formally graduated to a big bed. Yea!). She seems to be having a hard time getting used to it because when she rolls over she either hits her head on the bars or her leg or arm gets stuck between the bars. We don't have a crib bumper because the SIDS people say they can be dangerous, but I recently ordered a "breathable" bumper that is supposed to be safe. Hopefully that will help us all get more sleep!