hi. i want to play my computer games from pbskids.org and disney’s little einsteins but my mom is making me do this instead. she is holding my hand and making me stab the keyboard with my finger.
it doesn’t hurt but i want to play something else! maybe if i tell her over and over again that i want to play little einsteins she will let me!
to be continued…
At first I thought it would just be our little secret. Nia would never have to know that Nate and I entered her sanctuary while she was at school. He just gets so happy when the door is left open so he can run in and look wide-eyed at everything he never gets to play with – then go to town with a huge smile on his face. I thought, if I just put all the toys he’s enjoying back before we go to pick her up, she’ll never know that her precious princess room had been invaded. How could I forget that Nia is very special and has a genius brain and awesome memory?
We were only back in the house for like 5 minutes when she walked over to me holding a ball and had a look on her face like she knew something was fishy.
“Momma. Why is this ball out of my room?”
BUSTED! I smile at her not really knowing what to say. Should I lie? “I don’t know why that’s out of your room. How would I know how it got out of your room?” Should I fall on the floor and beg for forgiveness for allowing her little brother – the one she always slams the door on as she scurries off in her room – to touch all the toys that she freaks out when he has? WHAT? First of all, what kind of example would I be if I lied to my child? (Plus, I can’t lie for my life.) Second, she’s 4! Why in the world am I worried that a 4-year-old will be mad at me? Who’s the adult here? What’s my deal?
I look at her and smile and say, “Nate brought it out here.”
“How did Nate get it?”
“I let him in your room while I was putting your clean clothes away.” (NOT A LIE – This is the true reason why we were in there in the first place – I just thought it would be a shame to kick him out after I was finished – he was having so much fun!)
“Mommmmmaaaaa” she says with her head to the side and a look of disappointment on her face.
Phew. I got away with it this time! I’ll have to be more careful next time!
Our little man is finally trying to speak! It is so fun and sweet to hear him try to say words. There are some words he says really well – “bubbles” and “no” are two that quickly come to mind. With other words he still has a long way to go – his “thank you” is more a “de de” and his “Nia” is still a “ea” but still – it’s the fact that he’s trying! In fact, just now he came up to me and said “Mommy. Nack? Nack?” (He’s adorably asking for a snack.) He just finished breakfast but how could I tell him no?!?! He even walked to the pantry door as he was saying “nack” and tried to say “please” – “peas?” What can I say? I’m a sucker for baby speak.
I know other kids his age (around 20-21 months) are speaking much better and saying more words but I also know every child develops differently. He might have been walking way earlier than they were. (He was practically running by 12 months.) Nia was singing her alphabet and knew her colors and shapes by now but she took a good 3 months longer to walk than him. I was just getting worried that he would never grow out of his caveman grunts and his deafening shrieks. I’m so glad I don’t have to decipher (or brace myself for) those anymore!
Just to give you an example of some of the things he says now – I tried to get him to Nate-speak on video. Here’s how it came out –
Oh yeah – in case you were wondering why I ask him to say “pee-pee” – well, let’s just say his daddy taught him that word and he was saying it more than he was saying “mommy” for awhile. I see where I stand.
Sometimes, it is really difficult to get Nia moving. She eats super slow. She walks super slow. She follows instructions super slow. That’s all fine when we’re not in a hurry to get somewhere or we haven’t told her a gazillion times to do something. That’s what was happening the other night.
It was almost time to start the bedtime routine so I told her to go potty and put on her pajamas. She kept playing. I told her it wasn’t play time now – it was night-night time and again told her to get pjs. At that point, she got up from the toys and walked toward the bathroom but she stopped at every toy along the way and even took a few with her. Again, I told her to get ready for bed. (Of course, I wasn’t using the sweet mommy voice anymore – I was using the exhausted, haven’t I told you this like 3 times already mommy voice.)
Her response was so awesome. She looked at me so funny and put her hands up and said, “It’s ok Momma, please don’t freak out – I’m just putting the toys in my room.”
What could I say to that? All I could do is laugh. It’s funny too because I really didn’t care anymore that she wasn’t moving fast enough. What was the hurry anyway? I really do need to follow her advice more often. Don’t freak out.
Me – “What was your favorite thing to do at the beach?”
Nia – “Going in the big waves with daddy.”
Me – “You were so brave. I was scared because daddy took you out so far but you were very brave.”
Nia – “Yeah, that’s cause I’m 4T. When you’re 1T or 2T or 3T* you aren’t brave but when you are 4T you are.”
*(In case you don’t know what 1T, 2T, 3T or 4T means – it’s the sizes of children’s clothes. 2 Toddler, 3 Toddler, 4 Toddler. There’s no such thing as a 1T but Nia thinks there is since that’s the way her clothes have been labeled.)
Catchin' Some Waves
"I'm 4T!"
SpongeBob SquarePants? Backyardigans? Ariel? Little Mermaid? I don’t know?
It doesn’t matter the word – sometimes it’s a bunch of words – Nia is now going through a phase where she wants to know how to spell EVERYTHING. Part of me thinks it’s neat that she’s showing an interest in learning how to spell but the other part of me finds it a little bit silly at times. It’s not like she’s really paying attention to me as I grant her request – she usually just goes on to the next thing.
She has started picking up on certain words as I’m reading to her though. The other night she kept interrupting me to point out every “at” or “to” on a page. She would say, “Why is there an ‘at’ there?” Don’t get me wrong, I’m really proud of her for being so smart, it’s just sometimes she goes overboard. I’ve started to give her limits on how many words I’ll spell in a row. I’ll say, “Ok – one more.” She’ll say, “How do you spell one?”
When’s the last time you had a really good laugh? Like the kind that makes your stomach hurt and your eyes fill with tears? The kind that forces you to leave your mouth open even though you have no sound coming out of it? I’ve been so lucky lately and I’ve had quite a few of those laughs. I thought it would be fun to share the moments that made them happen – maybe they would make you smile too.
These were just a few of the hysterical memories. I know they may not come across as quite so funny over this blog – but it was a lot of fun for me to remember them! You should share yours too if you want!
I hardly ever get to venture out by myself.
I don’t know how to act when I do get to venture out by myself.
I hardly ever have a moment (second?) of silence.
I usually have to clean up a big mess or pull a choking hazard out of the boy’s hand when I do get a moment of silence.
I have to pick up the stuff (toys/hangers/clean clothes/breakable objects) I just picked up. (And then pick them up again.)
I’ve lost weight from having to chase them and clean up after them all day.
I gained weight because I needed to keep them (and me) happy when they were in my belly.
My hair is super dark brown now and the grays are popping out like crazy. (Who/what else can I blame? My hair wasn’t this way before the kids!)
I “look like a mom.” At least that’s what a former high school classmate told me the night before our 10 year reunion.
I look like a mom and wonder “what’s wrong with that?!”
I cannot take a shower, go potty, talk on the phone or sit down for a meal in peace.
My showers, potty times, phone conversations and meals are more entertaining/interesting.
I do things I haven’t done since I was a kid – color, play Candyland and Memory, do cartwheels, blow bubbles, swing.
I realize I shouldn’t do half of the the things I hadn’t done since I was a kid.
I laugh and smile every day.
I rub my head and sigh every day.
I get the best good night kisses and sweetest hugs.
I get slapped in the face and tortured by tantrums.
My days are NEVER boring.
I couldn’t tell you what’s happening in the world but I could tell you what SpongeBob did or the words to the third Cinderella movie.
I couldn’t imagine life without them – because of them, I am me.
Are You Zhazha? 
Say what?