Maddy at school

This morning, Reagan threw a holy fit before going to school. She didn't want to go. Jim put her in the car for me while I grabbed her lunch. By the time I got to the car, she had wiggled her way out of her seat belt and was screaming hysterically. Uh oh.

I put her back in and told her to stop and "carried on" as you do with toddlers.

She wouldn't calm down - or she couldn't. I'm not sure which. Either way, Reagan was really worked up about something. By the time I got to the fire station, she was completely out of the top part of her seat belt and was leaning sideways out of her seat - all the while screaming hysterically. Hmmm.

I knew I couldn't drive that way and I didn't want her to puke, so I pulled over in the fire station parking lot. I got out and held her for a bit and just tried to talk to her. I finally got her to calm down and start talking to me. "Maddy" was all she said. I, of course, thought she meant her little sister. But she didn't. There was a girl at her school that was mean to her - she didn't want to go.

I convinced her to go to school to talk to her teacher. We did. She was telling the truth. Her teacher said "she can be not very nice" and that she'd watch them interacting to make sure she was behaving. Ok. She was still clinging to my leg as I left. The cool thing - the dance teacher offered her a free lesson for the day. I grabbed that and left her in her first dance class. That was a good distraction for her to start the day better. I left her with the promise that I'd pick her up early. Whew.

So I did... I picked her up a little after 4:00 pm today. She and Maddy were friends again. I had asked her what she did today and who she played with. Maddy was at the top of her list.

I'm not ready for the "girl mean thing" to start. Apparently it starts at the age of three. Hmmm.

Sleepwalking

This morning, Reagan woke up at 6:30 am. She never does that. But today, she was screaming from her bedroom. I went upstairs to see what was going on - she obviously was having a nightmare or terror - and she was inside her clothes hamper. Really?

Monkey and a frog

Reagan has finally gotten the entire song that Papa Carman always sings when he visits. She even slaps her leg with her hand while she sings.

A monkey and a frog, a turtle and a dog, a wasp and a bumble bee. They all had a date but me.

Mae used to sing that.

Night from hell

Last night might have been the worst sleep night since we got home with Maddy. Maddy was up until about 10:30 pm. Reagan, who had gone to sleep at 8:00 pm, woke up screaming at 11:30 pm. Ugh. I was up in her room until 2:00 am. At that time, she started screaming and was convinced it was not sleepy time. Ugh again.

I had to call Jim upstairs because Maddy was waking up. Why? To eat of course. So I was up with her until 3:00 am. Unfortunately, the sight of Jim infuriated Reagan at 2:00 am so she threw a holy fit until about 4:00 am when she finally fell asleep.

I think Jim and I got to bed about 4:30 am. I slept until 7:00 am when Maddy woke up again to eat.

sigh...

When are the terrible twos over?

Sleeping in crib

Maddy does not like to sleep in her crib at night. I'm not really sure why. She will take short naps in her crib, but just not an overnight. Since birth, she's slept in her swing in the living room. I feel I'm doomed to repeat the same pattern with Maddy as I did Reagan. I've searched online for "sleepers". I found a few and actually bought a travel version that we can use now and take with us when we visit folks during the holidays. The problem is I don't want to use props with Maddy. Ugh.

Well, today I put her in the pack and play to gather up my laundry. She loves looking at the teddy bear mobile in it. Well, she fell asleep. Hmmm. I wonder if a mobile would do the trick for her at night, especially if it turns and keeps her interest. Hmm

Needless to say, I dug out Reagan's old one. I hope it works. We broke the tab that keeps stuff together so we are playing with super glue to hold it together. Pray that it works.

Reagan sleeping in her own bed again

Last night was night four alone. She was overly tired from the activities of the day - cooking and company. We had Papa Thomas and Aunt Wanda over - two folks that had not come to visit us yet in our home. We had a great time. Reagan was showered with attention from Papa. He spoils all his grandkids that way. She took him upstairs and showed him her room and the entire upstairs... all the bedrooms. I think that they were upstairs for 30 minutes at least.

She didn't eat much food yesterday. She did, however, eat a substantial amount of junk. She loves her Halloween candy.

I did have to go upstairs with her a few times in the night. She called out. I think when she is over-tired, she has a harder time sleeping. Either way, we celebrate it as a win.

Thankgiving and First Snow

We had a great Thanksgiving today. Aunt Wanda and Papa Thomas came down to visit and share in some food. We found out the hard way that it takes days to thaw a frozen turkey. Whoops. Jim had to do the "quick thaw" method in the sink last night to get the turkey ready to cook. It wasn't that big of a deal. We are both up until at least midnight between baby and video games (you figure out who was doing what). :)

I tried a couple new recipes - sour cream and chive potatoes and a cranberry dressing. Hmmm. The potatoes turned out okay. I personally would not make them again. The cranberry sauce was really good. It actually had an entire orange (including the rind) ground up in the mix. The green bean casserole never tasted so good.

Maddy was held the entire time - Wanda held her for the first 30 minutes she was here. She did that until her arms got tired. Then once she woke up and ate, Papa held her until they left. Reagan showed Papa the entire upstairs - including showing off her bedroom.

We had a really nice time visiting with the family. It was a true treat to have them here in our home.