The mind of a baby

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To Do Update

Blog more than twice this month? Check.

Finish the book I've been reading for over a month? Check.

Add pictures to Lily's wall? Sort of check. The frames have been painted and hung, and there is a picture in  one of them. Baby steps, baby steps...

Finish organizing downstairs closets? Check.

Make door mat? Check.

Make a new headboard? Another half check. The frame is assembled. Now on to sanding, priming, painting (which would involve actually choosing a color), and making and attaching upholstered panels. But hey...the frame is assembled! And Lily was very helpful at cleaning up the sawdust:

A pretty productive month, I think.

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Let Me Count the Ways

This morning, we have a very grumpy Lily...for reasons we're not yet sure of. And when Lily's grumpy, any little thing will set her off into a stream of tears, whining, and writhing on the floor. From that point on, EVERYTHING, any perceived slight, will start the tears again.

This morning, the catalyst was when her two shows for the morning were over and it was time to turn off the tv. The next injustice was being told no when she asked to play games on the iPod (she's not very good about stopping when we say it's time or accepting that she doesn't need to play it all day, so we've severely limited the game time). The final straw, apparently, was that Erik was sitting on the ottoman in Timothy's room while I fed him a bottle and there wasn't any room for Lily to sit.

"You're MEAN!!!" It's the new phrase du jour, and we hear it at least once a day. How? we asked. She proceeded to tick off the ways on her fingers.

"You won't let me watch a show. You won't let me play games on your phone. You won't let me sit where I want. That's FOUR MEANS!" Like mean is now a noun and you can add up the number means in a day.

Wait a minute...wasn't that only three? So she ticked them off again.

"No, it's FOUR! You won't let me watch a show. You won't let me play games on your phone. Or the iPod..."

Oh....so the phone and the iPod were two separate transgressions.

So we're slowly working through the injustices of the world and trying to teach her that, no, sometimes she doesn't get to do everything she wants. What confuses me is that we've never let her just do everything she wanted whenever she wanted it. So where did this sense of entitlement come from? Where did the impatience and not wanting to wait her turn come from? Is it just her age, or did we wreck her somehow? I guess all we can do it be consistent (that's always the key, isn't it: be consistent) and hope that she's just testing the boundaries. And that usually works. I mean, right now, she's playing just as happy as can be with non-electronic toys. Remember those??? It's just the journey of getting her calmed down enough to remember there are other things to do. Man, it's exhausting.

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Sleepover

As I write this, Erik is sleeping (well, maybe not yet...but he's trying) on Lily's floor under a tent constructed from a comforter and a sheet. It's main supports are a dresser and an easel leaning precariously against the wall. Lily has been asking for weeks to have a sleepover with one of us, but it's always on a night when we have to work the next morning, so the creaky joints and stiff back that would result weren't too appealing.  (Man we're getting old.) There was also the prospect that I'd be wiggling my way out of a tent half awake because that would be the night Timothy would decide to go back to not sleeping. (We've had a blissful sleep week as far as he's concerned, by the way. Blissful!)

But tonight was the magical night, and Erik figured that since he was already sore from crawling around on the floor at work for inventory, he might as well make a night of it and sleep on the floor, too, since he'll have the next week of vacation to recover. Way to take one for the team, I know.

So I just wanted to let the entire internet know how much I love my husband and how willing he is to indulge our daughter in something so simple but that will make her so happy and create such a great memory. And she'll remember it...you can count on that. It will be weeks, maybe even months from now, and she'll say, "Hey guys! Remember yesterday when Daddy had a sleepover with me in my room and we built a tent and used the flashlight to read Hop on Pop? Remember that? That was so fun!"

And at least I know that if she's on the floor, there's no risk of hurting herself. Unlike the other night when I peeked in to check on her before I went to bed.

Yes...she's sleeping standing up. Don't ask me how she got into this predicament or how long it would have been before we heard the thud of her falling over. The "Thanks, Daddy" when Erik lifted her a back into bed was the sweetest thing. There are days she makes me want to pull my hair out, for sure. If she's this emotional at 4, what are we in for at 13? But I definitely wouldn't trade her in for anything. I don't think. No...Yeah, I wouldn't. She one adorable little girl and I love her.

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To do...

1. Blog more than twice this month. (1/2 way there!!! Yeah!!!)

2. Finish the book I've been reading for over a month.

3. Print and hang new family picture that was taken in...November. (Um...yeah...I'm that behind.) Also, possibly completely redo wall arrangement with the family picture. I think I need a trip to Tai Pan for inspiration. Anyone want to join me?

4. Repaint living room so walls stop clashing with new couches.

5. Rearrange Lily's room and finally hang some art on the wall. (Actually, I already did the rearranging, so just the artwork part...oh...and buy a new bookcase.)

6. Finish organizing downstairs closets.

7. Make this door mat:

Via

8. Work onTimothy's scrapbook so I'm caught up by his first birthday...maybe it won't get printed three months after the fact. :)

9. Go through the mountain of toys at our house and decide what can go.

10. Make a new headboard similar to this and repaint the rest of the bedroom furniture:

Via

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