Monday, March 3, 2014

A Day in the Life of a Toddler

I suppose someday I'll look back on these days with fondness and a bit of nostalgia. After all, my little girl is amazingly sweet, and watching her learn & take in the world is both fascinating and fullfilling. However it can also be unbelievably frustrating and infuriating.

Here's a look at an ordinary day. This particular day was Sunday, March 2nd. E is 27 months and acts, well, like any other two year old.

7:30am E woke up when I tried to sneak out of bed. This is a daily occurrence but I still try in hopes of a random success. She ran to say "hi" to daddy before following me downstairs to supervise my coffee drinking.

7:35am  E asked for baked oatmeal for breakfast, and sat down to eat it at the dining room table. Handing blueberry baked oatmeal to a toddler is like inviting them on an epic treasure hunt, where they'll dig for gold... err blueberries like their life depends on it. I suppose I could have just offered her a bowl of blueberries, but that wouldn't have kept her entertained for an hour. Yup, an hour. Points for me.

8:35am Daddy dresses E while I finished getting ready to leave for church.

8:45am We're loading into the car headed for church. On time. This is rare and to be celebrated!

8:55am Daddy checks E in and we each grab a hand to swing her up the stairs to her room. She thinks it's an awesome ride and we reach the top of the staircase while it's still 2014. Everybody wins. She has a huge grin as she sees her friends and leaders, and we breathe a sigh of relief that only a parent of a toddler fully understands. We get to go focus on adult things with no worries about the house being destroyed, the dog being shaved, or the sofa being redone with fresh ink and scissors.

10:15am Church is over and we get E. She's snacking, happy, and acts like she owns the lobby. E and I wave bye to daddy and our friends, brave the freezing cold weather and head home.

11:45am I warn E that it's almost time to go get daddy. She can finish her Angry Birds cartoon and then we're leaving.

11:47am The cartoon ends and I ask E to put the tablet away. She refuses. Tantrum ensues as I close the tablet.

11:50am I put E on the potty before we leave. After a minute:
Me: Are you all done?
E: No.
Me: Are you still peeing?
E: No.
Me: Do you need to poo?
E: No.
Me: So you're all done.
E: No.
I go with it and we have a nice little conversion as she sits on the potty.

12:05pm
Me:  You need to be done. We're leaving.
E: No.
She doesn't complain when I grab her off the potty (I realize she did nothing!) wash her hands, and carry her downstairs. I put on her boots and peacoat, and grab my moccasins. E grabs my cute wedges for me to wear instead. I explain we're just going for a quick car trip and I want to be comfy as I slide my feet into my moccasins. Cue meltdown. I concede as we're already late (I did not plan on a fifteen minute potty break) and I have a really hard time getting E in her carseat when she's angry. I throw on my wedges, and head out to the car.

12:30pm We return home, daddy in tow. E is sound asleep as daddy carries her inside. He sits on the sofa and after a brief moment daddy and daughter are both passed out. Lovely Sunday afternoon nap for them and precious alone time with no agenda for me!

3:00pm E is stirring and I make her get up, afraid we've already sabotaged our chance for night time sleep. She hasn't napped in weeks and I'm getting more concerned by the minute. We get her a snack and watch the latest episode of How I Met Your Mother.

3:45pm As a family we write some long overdue thank you notes. E grabs her crayons and adds her own touch to several cards.

4:00pm Daddy and E play, and play, and play! It's so great to have him home. They tickle and giggle and build and destroy.

6:30pm Daddy throws dinner in the oven and E strips. I assume she's ready for some comfortable pajamas, but no. She's decided it's bath time. I remind her she doesn't need a bath now, but she's persistent so I promise a bath after dinner figuring it will save me some time tomorrow. She complies but refuses to get dressed again. Whatever.

7:00pm Dinner is ready and I pull the meat off the drumstick so E can dip it into her own little bowl of honey mustard. She grabs the bone and gnaws all the remaining bits of meat off, just like daddy. As she sits naked, gnawing on bones, I can't help but laugh. This long bitter cold and ridiculously snowy winter has stolen our sanity and there's clearly no hope of getting it back. Once the bone is clean to her satisfaction, E settles for the meat pieces on her plate and finishes dinner.

8:00pm E plays happily in the tub for quite awhile, eating bubbles, splashing daddy, and tirelessly pouring water from one container to another.

9:00pm E is clean, dry, and ready for bed. Daddy takes her upstairs for her bedtime routine and tucks her in.

9:30pm I hear crying. I go upstairs as usually this means she needs a potty break. Unfortunately that's not the case tonight. She's not tired. She comes down and snuggles with me for a bit before I try getting her back to bed. I feel her gums for her two year molars, give her a healthy dose of teething oil and teething drops, and sprinkle some lavender essential oil on her pillow. She's still not tired, so we convince her it's time for everyone to sleep. We get ready for bed and snuggle.

10:30pm She's still wide awake, singing to her baby and chatting up a storm. Daddy's snoring away.

11:30pm She's finally settled but not asleep. I fall asleep.

4:00am In my sleep I readjust and roll over, away from E, which sends her into a tantrum. Exhausted and frustrated, I yell. Daddy rescues me and brings E into the nursery to rock her. She wants mommy and is furious, but eventually settles. Daddy brings her back to bed under the condition that she can't utter a peep. She begrudgingly abides and we go back to sleep.

8:00am I roll my tired self out of bed, trying not to wake E. It doesn't work.