Wuthering Hyders

Where Did She Learn THAT?

She looks so sweet doesn't she? I remember how I used to think that whenever I looked at her. Yet underneath that fetching smile and tousled bedhead is something that is less sugar and more spice. Heck, it borders on curdled sometimes! She's reminiscent of the infamous "Little Girl With the Curl". You know the one I'm talking about, right? "When she was good, she was very good, but when she was bad, she was horrid"? This being my first experience with raising a two year-old, I'm just going to take a wild guess and say that she's not the only one like this. I'm sure you more seasoned mothers will smile knowingly and think "Just wait until she hits ( insert age here )!". My neighbor, and friend, Kris, is one of these mothers. She has four children ranging in age from ten to two and they are all very well behaved, so I respect her opinions. We have very different parenting styles, but I know there's a lot I can learn from her. I'm one step away from being one of those "attachment" parents. I co-sleep with my kids, held them all the time when they were babies ( Perrin still fits this description ), watch preschool television programs with them, etc. Kris has never let any of her children sleep in her bed and believes that the time the kids spend watching television is her chance to get something done. I don't think either one of us loves her kids more or is a better mother, but I will say this... Her house is always in order and mine is usually not.

I digress. Abby has always been a quick study when it comes to learning new things. She knew the entire alphabet before she turned one. In fact, the first letter she learned was "W". Not because I tried to teach her that letter, but because she chose to learn it. She knows what shape an octagon is and what color chartreuse is. She uses words like "interesting" and "adagio". Heath doesn't even know what "adagio" means! She also knows all the words to what seems like a million songs. Maybe it's just because I'm her mom, but I'm pretty impressed.

Lately she's been picking up weird little things here and there that I'm not entirely sure of the source of. For instance, the other night, Heath was going to take her upstairs and she turned to look at him, held up her index finger and stated, " I want a vitamin.". I give her a vitamin every night, so the statement itself wasn't surprising. It was the way she made it look like a proclamation. She's done it several times since then. This holding up of the index finger like the world is supposed to cease it's rotation while she speaks. "I'll be RIGHT back, Mommy!" O-kay! I'll just sit here and await your glorious return, shall I?

And heaven forbid things don't go her way! Holy cow! Last night she had a total meltdown and cried hysterically through undressing, bathtime, dressing, bedtime and all. She ALWAYS loves taking a bath! Last night I had to physically put her into the tub kicking and screaming ( she REALLY needed a bath ) and she bawled the entire time. I had to wash her as quickly as I could while trying to keep her in the tub at the same time. This is no easy feat with a wet two year-old. I was done in no more than two minutes and reached down to let the water go. She screamed at me and said she didn't want to get out! By this point, my patience was starting to wear thin. I told her she could let the water go when she was ready to get out and left her a towel on the lid of the toilet. I left the door open and went across the hall to nurse Perrin to sleep as he was now in hysterics as well. She sat in the tub and cried for about ten more minutes before I went in and picked her up and put her out of the tub. More thrashing and wailing ensued. Oh, joy. Of course, all this noise kept Perrin awake and crying. I managed to get a diaper and the top of her pajamas on her when she started wailing for her "Tubby jammies". I thought, hey, this is progress! She's finally suggesting something she DOES want! I had offered several things to try and calm her down prior to this with no success. So we found the Teletubby jammies and got a drink. Things seemed to be looking up until I laid down facing Perrin and not her. I can't win! Urgh!

Long story short, she eventually rode out the tantrum and her breathing settled from it's ragged gasps. I finally got them both to sleep. This morning, she woke up in such a jolly mood it was like someone had switched her with an identical twin in the middle of the night. Which I KNOW is not possible since I distinctly remember giving birth to just one child at a time. I hope this is just part of growing up and not an indication of her mental health later in life. All I can say is, thank goodness for the sugar moments. They make the spice moments all but disappear.