Bits and Pieces

Play Doh: The other day Turtle asked for Play-Doh. I was getting it out of the playroom closet when Monkey approached, hands outstretched. I gave her a canister and turned back to get one for Turtle when I heard Monkey say, “Eat! Eat!” I snapped my head back and said, “Monkey, NO eat, NO eat Play-Doh!” while shaking my head and furrowing my brows. Monkey laughed and said, “Funny.” “We’re you just being funny?” I asked. “Yeah,” she said. “So you know you don’t eat Play-Doh?” “Yeah, funny,” she said, giggling. So that’s it, then. My child knows how to push my buttons, and she thinks it funny.

Texas Longhorns: Nearly every single day, for several weeks now, Turtle has said, “I want Tecas hat.” Last week I tried to get her to wear the very nice red Texas Rangers baseball cap that Uncle C. got her, saying “Here Lily, this is a Texas hat, for the Texas Rangers.” She screamed “No!” flung it off her head, and looked at me like I was the biggest jerk on earth. I swear, I taught the girl one little Hook ‘Em Horns sign and created a fanatic. We're going to the University Co-Op Saturday morning (game day!) to get her a hat and, I'm guessing, a whole lot more.

Tylenol: I have mentioned several times that Monkey is kind of going through something dramatic right now. The other night, while trying to settle her and Turtle during a particularly difficult bedtime routine, I said aloud to Twin Daddy, “I wonder if we should give them some Tylenol?” Monkey immediately started screaming, “MEDICINE, MEDICINE!” That gave me pause, so I offered Oragel instead. Turtle let me rub the Oragel on her gums and settled down immediately, while Monkey grabbed the applicator out of my hand, threw it on the floor, then started throwing her toothbrush, comb, and anything else she could grab from the bathroom counter, all while screaming, “Tylenol! Tylenol!”

We didn’t give her anything, and she went right to sleep once we got her in her crib. Her little addiction/withdrawal scene scared me straight, and I haven’t given her anything since. I think I have traced the real problem back to the fact that she started going to bed a good 20 minutes later once we started “potty time” before bath time, and that seems to have completely thrown her sleep out of whack. We’ve gone back to earlier bedtimes, and now she’s sleeping later in the morning, taking better naps, and she’s less cranky and clingy. Thank you Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child! Your sage advice has been my guiding light for the past 20 months.

Letting Go, Part III: We went to the playground at Central Market last Friday. After a couple of turns around the toddler playscape, Turtle approached the BIG kids playscape. Of course Monkey followed. I tried to put my fears aside and let them have a go. Within 3 minutes Turtle fell on some big steps and bloodied her lip. I scooped them both up and ran back to the safety of the toddler playscape, while my friend E. got some ice from inside. While Turtle nursed her lip I said with a big smile, “Hey girls – do you want to go INSIDE and go GROCERY SHOPPING and get some BIG BALLOONS! Or, [sagging body language] doyouwanttostayoutsideandplay?” They picked the balloons.

Just like Ana!: We used some empty paper towel rolls for a little craft project and once the craft had been destroyed (thank you Monkey), the paper towel rolls were left. One of the girls started using hers as a vacuum cleaner, and the other followed, and soon they were running around the playroom, making "whooshing" noises, and "vaccuming" the chairs, the floor, their toys. I was marveling at their creativity when one of them said, "Ana, Ana!" as she vacuumed a chair. The other caught on, and then it was all "Ana, Ana" and vaccuuming. Ana is the woman who cleans our house every two weeks. She is wonderful and we all like her, but I was embarrassed that they connect vacuuming with Ana and not momma. But what can I say? I don't vaccuum and now I know that they've noticed.

Tiny bits: Turtle counted to 10 tonight, by herself, without prompting. Monkey did a somersault last night, also by herself, without prompting. I did a few push-ups for them during breakfast this morning to explain what I meant by "exercise" when I said, "Mommy's going to exercise while you go to school" (Mother's Day Out). They both clammered to be let out of their booster seats so they could try one. Theirs looks a little more like a yoga pose (downward facing dog), but we'll work on it. Twin Momma may not vaccuum, but she can do a mean push-up.