A day in the life with a toddler

At the pediatrician earlier this week, our doc said that God made toddlers cute for a reason.  Boy, isn't that the truth!  She has her moments when I just shake my head and have to remind myself that she's pushing me for a reaction and because she's 18 months old.....it's not personal.  But yesterday....oh.my.gosh.  I swear that she woke up with the agenda of adding 22 more gray hairs and another ulcer to the mix.

We had errands to run that afternoon.  And knowing this, I started getting ready around 10:30....cause it takes that long to get out of the house.  I shower and get ready during her morning nap.  Normally, she sleeps from 10-12.  Perfect time for me to check email and then get ready for the day.  Today, she was up by 11.  So she was able to "help" me get ready.  No biggie.  I actually enjoy her "helping" me get ready.  I think that it teaches her the importance of taking care of yourself.  I want her to grow up watching me "get ready."

While I was flat ironing my hair, she came running to the bathroom door holding this little black thing.  She was yelling, "Gow Gow."  She was speaking Chinese again and I had no clue what she was talking about.  So I smiled and praised her and she ran along.  Then she comes back, "Gow Gow" and hands me the little black thing and then starts to freak out because it left a little mark on her hand.  What the?  It's a piece of crayon?

I walk out into the living room to find her black crayon in a million pieces.  She's standing next to me and says, "Gow Gow, Wooce".  I get it now.  "Bad Girl, Luc."  The dog ate the crayon.  Or more appropriately, Kinley gave her black crayon to Lucy and Lucy ate it.  So all day long, Lucy was referred to by Kinley as "Gow Gow."

We had lunch and then she was bathed (remember the ketchup?).  It was approaching 1:00 and I knew that we had to get moving on the errands or they'd just never happen.  I get her ready: her pig tails in, jogging outfit on (she wasn't going jogging), her shoes.  The normal routine.  Then I start to get my shoes on. 

Then I look and her hoodie is off.  Where is the hoodie? 

I'll deal with that in a minute.  Gotta get her backpack packed.

Filling her sippy and my water bottle (with the Crystal Light Mojito--to die for!).

Her shoes are gone.  Where are her shoes?

Get my purse, her backpack, her sippy, my water, the shopping list, my coupon for Bed, Bath and Beyond.  It's all in the chair, ready to go.

Her ponytails are now gone.

Seriously?

She's all but naked in the span of 5 minutes and I'm ready to go. Ugh.

Redress the baby.  Find her shoes.  Re-do her ponytails and then don't put her down so that she can't un-do my re-do. 

Try to get out the door holding a purse, backpack, sippy, water bottle and child.

And it's pouring down rain.  So glad I spent 20 minutes ironing my hair.

We got to CVS for the whole 99 cent 12 pack of diet pepsi.  That wasn't true.  Ugh.  So much for believing all of the coupon sites.  Oh well, grabbed some witch hazel (going to try that for my oil control on my face) and body wash and K got some new sunglasses.

Back to the car, still pouring down rain.  I throw the bag in the front seat while trying to buckle her in her seat.  She starts bucking in her seat so that I can't strap her in.  This is her new game and she thinks it's the funniest thing, ever.  Not so funny when momma is getting D.R.E.N.C.H.E.D.   She wouldn't stop. 

And now she's tall enough to reach her little leg out and touch the DVD player with her toes, so she pushes all of the buttons and restarts that dang "moo show" over and over and over and over. 

So now I'm soaking wet and she's having the time of her life.

I was stopped at a stop light waiting to turn into the post office.  There must have been construction or something going on, cause the normal 10 minute ride from CVS to the post office was about a 30 minute ride.  And with the toddler that I was dealing with, 30 minutes is much too long to be sitting in traffic...watching the light go from green, to yellow, to red and you've still not moved.  Yeah, it was like that.  Ugh.

So I'm turned around dealing with her and obviously the light turned green and this idiot behind me lays on his horn.  I'm not talking a tap like "hey, the light is green, please go," it was a constant honk that kept going until I had completed my turn. 

Word to the wise, never, NEVER do that to someone. For all that you know, it may be me in front of you, soaking wet, dealing with the crazy toddler and I just may get out and kick you in the shin.  Cause if there hadn't been a line of cars behind him, I sure as heck would have done just that. 

We head in to the post office to mail father's day cards.  She had her shoes off before leaving the CVS parking lot.  So she went inside like a Hoosier baby without shoes.  Whatever.  I choose my battles.  So I'm holding her, the few cards (they had her 18 month pictures in them, so they weighed too much for me to guesstimate how many stamps) and a package.  She squirming and doing her best to get down and make me look like a fool for trying to hold on to her.  Hello, no shoes?!  Remember?  You took them off?

Still raining as we walk out.  Luckily, I distracted her while strapping her in and she didn't buck.

Off to Bed Bath and Beyond.  I put the shoes back on....  She takes them off the second her bottom sits in the cart.  Okay.  That was worth standing in the rain to put them on.  I thought that her and I could have some fun looking at all of the neat gadgets and whatever.  Not so much.

She thought that she needed to be all creative with sitting in the cart.  And wouldn't you know it that the cart we had didn't have a safety belt?  Or one that was long enough to go around her.  I should have switched carts, but at this point, I wanted in and out.

She thought she was hilarious.  And then she started to pass gas.  OMG.  And it was loud.  And she laughed at herself.  Really?!  What happened to my sweet, precious, girly-girl, baby?  I tried to ignore it but you KNOW how hard it is to not laugh.  She was contorting herself into all of these crazy positions in the seat and her butt almost came out of the leg hole. 
We walked past the mirrors, and by now she was standing in the cart, and I was sprinting to the check-out line.  She caught sight of herself in one of the mirrors and decided that she needed to flirt with that adorable baby.  And it was so cute that I had to let her. 

Notice that the pig tails are gone?  She ripped them out. Again.  I gave up.
She can be pig tail-less.

We got to the check-out and she proceeds to try and rip everything down that she can reach.

Ugh.

Nap time came as soon as we walked in the door.

There *is* a reason that God made toddlers so darned cute.  And I learned that reason yesterday as I was so close to losing my mind.

She's cutting two teeth and that morning nap was just too short.  She was acting appropriately for the circumstances given.  I just couldn't see it then. 

I almost called my mom to apologize for all of my toddler/twos years.  It was that bad.  I almost cried.  I was so frustrated.

There is also a reason that God made naps for these cute toddlers.  It gives us mommas time to chillax and get over it.  No one would survive otherwise.

The evening progressed much the same as the afternoon.  She was miserable from her teeth and the orajel and tylenol didn't seem to phase her.

I stayed home until she was soundly asleep, tucked in for the night and then I slipped off to the gym at 9:30.

I got my one hour of cardio in and tanned.  It was my time.  MY time.  And I reflected on the day that I didn't think I'd survive.  But I did.

And when I got home, I opened her door and tucked her in.

And that's when I realized how perfect she really is...  and her quirky ways just make her even more perfect.