We All Should Be This Confident In Who We Are

It’s fabulous when toddlers start doing some things for themselves.  I’ve probably buckled up a car seat six thousand times, put on eight thousand pairs of pants, washed ten thousand pairs of little hands… you get the idea.  So anytime one of these mundane tasks are taken over by one of my little munchkins, I’m all for it. 

Recently I bought CamCam and “Mr. Trouble” some sandals.  Now, I’m not sure why, but my boys get VERY attached to their shoes.  They both have always thrown fits whenever I try to buy them new shoes.  “NO!”  they’ll say, “Not those shoes,  THESE (pointing down at  their feet) are my shoes!”  I’ve even had to go so far as to buy them the same sneakers they currently own in the next size up and make the switch while they’re sleeping. 

So needless to say, these sandals were met with some resistance.  “Mr. Trouble” finally caved when he realized these sandals were his ticket to the beach.  And CamCam relented when he realized he could put these shoes on by himself.  The ONLY thing keeping him from running out the door to play was the fact that he needed to ask mom to put shoes on him, and now that he didn’t need mom for that anymore, well, he was free to play outside whenever he wanted! 

Plus, being able to put your own shoes on makes you an instant member of “The Big Boy” club.  He was very excited and very proud.

Until today.

Today I was running late.  I needed to pick up their big brother from school at 3:30 sharp.  Yes, the teacher actually used the word “sharp".  And, naturally, as I’m packing up the boys to go, “The Baby” had a last-minute poopy diaper that needed changing.  So I was running late.  I asked CamCam to put his own shoes on.  It would have been a HUGE help to me, saved me a few seconds.  So, naturally, he didn’t do it.  I asked him to “Please, please, please put your own shoes on.  Mommy’s in a hurry and I need you to put them on.  I’m going out to buckle up the baby and you can put them on for me while I’m doing that.” 

But, of course, I rushed back inside to find him sitting in the entry.  Shoeless.

“CamCam, why didn’t you do your sandals?  Aren’t you a big boy?”

“Nope!”

“You’re not?  Are you a little boy?”

“Nope!”

“Are you a baby?”

“Nope!”

“Well, what are you then?”

“I’m a CamCam.”

Yeah, I think that about sums it up.  He’s one of a kind, my CamCam.

I’m Being Outsmarted- Again

I recently decided that I was going to reinstate nap time with CamCam.  Everyday he starts to fall apart soon after lunch.  By 3PM I find myself wishing that I had put him in for a nap earlier, but by then it’s too late.  He’d be up all night if he went in at 3.  So I started feeding him an earlier lunch, and bringing him up to his bed a little after noon. 

The first time I did this, CamCam fell asleep very quickly.  One o’clock is when “The Baby” goes in for his nap.  Suddenly I had two hours with just one kid up.  I was amazed at the amount I was able to accomplish! 

It really was making a huge difference in the rest of CamCam’s day.  He woke up refreshed, and the number of afternoon meltdowns was greatly reduced.   

Obviously this is being met with great resistance.  And with each passing day, the resistance is growing.  CamCam kept coming out of his room and saying he didn’t want to go to bed.  I finally came up with a solution to this as well.  All morning I do laundry, and as it comes out of the dryer, I throw it into the hallway, which also happens to be right outside CamCam’s room.  Then, during his nap time, I sit there and fold laundry.  The first time I did this, he was pretty shocked to slyly open his door and peek out, only to see me sitting there already. 

However, CamCam must get the final word in.  I can put him into bed.  I can make him stay in his room.  But he says he “Don’t wanna go bed!” and he’s sticking to that.

 

I’m Confused

I think CamCam is messing with me.  He has been so whiney lately, and every little thing is resulting in him having a meltdown.  I’ve reached my “Whine Limit”, and so try to avoid his fits as much as possible. 

If he asks for a particular food or drink, and you give him the wrong one, he has a complete fit.  So I try really hard to decipher his toddler babble and what he wants.

But I think he’s purposefully trying to drive me nuts.

Today he wanted a drink.  He came to me and said:  “Ma, I milk.”

Me: “Ok, you want some milk.”

CamCam: “Yes”  (wait 10 seconds) “A-ju, a-ju, Aaaaaaa-juuuuuu!” 

A-Ju is his word for apple juice.  So as I stood up I asked him, “You want apple juice?”

He said yes.  We started to walk towards the fridge and he clapped and said: “YAY!  Milk!”

Huh?

We get to the fridge and I asked him if he wanted apple juice or milk. 

He said yes.

So I had a smart moment, opened the fridge, and told him to show me what he wanted.  He pointed to the apple juice and said “A-Ju”.  That seemed pretty clear to me.  I pulled it out, which got another round of applause, set up the cup and started to pour.

I was mid-pour, the juice was actually in mid-air, it had officially left the jar but hadn’t yet touched the bottom of the cup, when I hear a little voice next to me exclaim:

”MILK!”

How A Two Year Old Helps

I've had lots of talks with the kids lately about being more helpful around the house. Ironically, the one who seems to be listening to me the best is CamCam. However, his is the kind of help I do not necessarily need.


He LOVES to help unload the dishwasher. Sometimes he'll pick up a dish, like a big plate. It's very heavy for him, so he stands at the dishwasher and says: "Here you go ma, here you go ma" over and over and meanwhile the plate is ever so slowly tipping forward and slipping from his hand. Sometimes he walks the dishes over to me. We've had a few accidents and a few broken dishes. At least he's trying to help.


He likes to help with the laundry. When I'm loading a machine, he likes to help load it as well. He also likes to reach inside and turn the machine around and around. When I'm putting clothes away, he's very helpful because he will pick up piles of clothing and bring them to me to put away. Generally, whatever he's brought I have to refold because he drops piece after piece along the way. Knowing this makes me put laundry away at lightening speed, so in a way, he does help. He also likes to be around for the folding. Anytime he sees me sitting on the floor folding laundry, he comes over and sits on my lap. It is very difficult to try and fold clothes around another person, but somehow I manage.


He helps with this blog. Obviously he helps by being as mischievous as possible and giving mom lots and lots of things to write about. But he also helps by sitting on my lap while I'm typing and every time I stop to think a bit, he says: "GO! GO!" Very encouraging.


He helps with "The Baby." For example, if the baby gets past the barricades I've put up to try and keep him away from the stairs, and starts to go up the stairs, CamCam runs up to him and attempts to pick him up and away from the stairs.

By his legs.


Or, CamCam helps the baby learn how to crawl up the stairs by pushing aside the chairs I'm using as barricades and going up one step at a time saying, "Come on baby, come on," all while I am running over to them yelling "no, stop, don't let "The Baby" go up the stairs!"


Or, CamCam helps with diaper changes. No, he doesn't go and get a diaper for me. I try to ask him to but he just looks at me like I have 2 heads. Sometimes he'll go off and bring me a book or something instead. And he won't get me the wipes. One day I was changing "The Baby" and realized after I pulled off the diaper that I needed wipes, and they were on the counter behind me. I reached and stretched, but they were just out of my reach. CamCam was right next to them, and I asked him to get them for me. It went like this:

"CamCam, get mommy the wipes." He walks past the wipes and into the kitchen.

"No CamCam, the wipes, right here," I say, pointing at the box of wipes, which my finger is practically touching. CamCam comes over, looks around confused, and grabs me an envelope off the counter.

"No, the wipes, these," I repeat, pointing and stretching a bit so that I actually move the container a bit. CamCam turns around in a circle trying to figure out what on earth I want him to get for me.


The way he helps is, when I'm changing the baby, he grabs a wipe out of the container and tries to wipe the baby for me. Which doesn't really seem like that big of a deal, except that the first time he did it I wasn't ready.

So he wiped his brother's poopy butt.

And then shoved the wipe back into the container.


Definitely not the kind of help I'm looking for.

Jail Break

My first 2 kids never tried to escape out of my house. So I was in for quite a surprise when I had "Mr. Trouble". Every chance he had, he'd try and sneak out of the house. It didn't take much for him to figure out how to undo the deadbolt. Eventually I put up a hinge lock, the kind that you can find in hotel rooms, so he couldn't open the door.

CamCam also figured out how to undo the deadbolt- once he was tall enough to reach it, it took him all of 5 minutes to figure it out. So I am very grateful that I still have the hinge locks on my doors. There isn't much that is scarier then realizing your 2 year old is no longer in your house and you have to run outside frantically looking for him.

This past Sunday I came home from work and couldn't get into my house because the high lock was on, so I knocked and knocked. CamCam and "Mr. Trouble" came running, and "Mr. Trouble" said he'd open the door for me. I talked to him through the crack and said it was too high, go and get dad.

So "Mr. Trouble" ran off to get dad.

CamCam, however, decided to let me in.

Random Sleepiness

CamCam has embraced the freedom his "big-boy" bed has given him. At the age of 2 years he is exerting his independence and has decided that he's no longer taking his nap. I can bring him to his room. I can put him in his bed. I can make him stay in his room. I cannot make him fall asleep. So instead of taking his much needed nap at 1PM, he is up playing. He likes to empty his toy box and climb into it. He likes to fill his toy box with everything in his room. Often I hear banging on the walls up there and don't know if I should go and check or not. On the one hand, he could be causing trouble and I should go and see. On the other hand, what if he isn't causing trouble, but then he would see me checking on him and throw a fit because he wants to get out. So I figure it's probably nothing.

So instead of taking his nap at a normal time, he is randomly falling asleep throughout the day. Usually it's very late in the afternoon and he sleeps for a couple of hours and then is up pretty late at night because of it. Or the worst case scenario, he falls asleep 5pm or later, takes his 2 hour nap, and then is up until midnight or later. Or sometimes he doesn't fall asleep at all and is pretty cranky in the evenings, but at least he goes to bed early.

He's falling asleep here....

Most obvious one, in the van

He's falling asleep here....

Rocking Chair is a very comfy place to fall asleep

He's falling asleep here....
This doesn't look very comfy

He's falling asleep here....

On the floor

He's falling asleep here....

Same outfit, same floor, different day

He's falling asleep here....

Between his bed and his brother's

He's falling asleep here....

Watching TV with his brother

But not here....

Ages Three And Up

I haven't taken an official tally, but if I was forced to put a number on it, I'd say about 99% of my house should be labeled "Ages Three And Up." I do have TONS of age-appropriate toys for Cameron to play with. Brightly colored toys. Toys that make noises. Toys with flashing lights. But none of these have the appeal of something that he knows he shouldn't play with. Here are the top five worst offenders:

#1- My Cell Phone- I guess I'm actually quite lucky that there isn't a long-distance phone #444997785728758971852, because I'd owe a massive cell phone bill if there was. And if I ever am on the phone with you, and after we hang up I immediately call you right back and say nothing, it isn't me calling. And if you send me a text, and I don't respond, I'm not being rude, someone just got to it before me.

#2- The Toy Room- You'd think that this would be an ok place for CamCam to play, isn't that the point of a toy room after all? But you would be seriously mistaken. The toy room is actually one of the worst places in the house because it gives the illusion of being a safe play area, therefore I stupidly leave him unattended in it. When I do that things like this happen:

Nolan yells to me that "CamCam's spitting! CamCam's spitting! He's sick!" and I think, oh no, he's throwing up and then I go into the toy room and see him looking like this....

...and for a minute I freak out thinking that he is throwing up mustard yellow vomit and am trying as hard as I can to figure out what on earth he ate for lunch that disagreed with him so. Then I realize it's not vomit, but a tube of finger paint from the top shelf that for some reason he decided to fill his mouth with.

#3- Chairs, Stools, etc- CamCam is now strong enough to move a chair or barstool around the room as he sees fit and use it to climb up to a whole new world that was previously unavailable to him. Desks, kitchen counters, table tops, all are now at his disposal. I actually watched one day as he climbed up into his highchair, sat in it, and then used the momentum of lunging his body forward to inch-by-inch move the highchair across the room, until he got to the large kitchen pantry cabinet, and then he was able to reach the very high kiddie-lock and undo it to get at the food. Just a couple days ago he moved a barstool over to climb up on the kitchen counter because he wanted more animal crackers. But I guess that once he got up there, he noticed something even better and tried to fill his bowl with salt instead.

.
#4 Laundry Baskets- These sure are fun to play in! I had a weak moment once and gave one to him and "Mr. Trouble" to play with, and let them push each other around in it. I guess toddlers do not understand the difference between a full laundry basket and an empty laundry basket. To me a full laundry basket is a sign of accomplishment- I have made a step toward winning the ongoing battle with Mt.Laundry. To a two year old, the neatly folded clothes are just something standing in the way of their fun and should be dispensed with immediately. But we cannot just tip over the basket and let the clothes semi-neatly fall in a pile, no, the clothing should be punished for getting in the way of our fun time. So instead, we will take out the items one by one and toss them down the stairs. That'll show 'em!

#5- Writing Utensils!!!- This is the worst! Nothing is safe from CamCam weilding a marker. There's always the tell-tale sign of him coming to me with his legs or arms covered in marker. Then I have to go on a hunt throughout the house to figure out what he drew on. He's draw on my couch, the hardwood foor in 3 seperate rooms, the majority of the stairs, our dining room table, the exposed side of our kitchen pantry, the kitchen cabinets, carpet, windowsills, countless walls and I'm certain many other places and things I have yet to discover. I have no idea how he is getting at all these markers and pens and pencils. I keep them ALL very well put away. He must have a secret stash I have yet to discover.

My "favorite" thing is how he took the time to outline the white trim all around this room. I think it makes for a nice accent touch that not a lot of people have.

Ok, Now What?

Nap time has become non-existant. But CamCam needs his naps. I need CamCam to nap. Yet it's a constant struggle with me to get him to take one. Just a couple of weeks ago I put the gate up for his room. It's an extra-tall gate, you know, the kind designed so that dogs cannot jump over them. The kind that's made extra-tall to go at the top of stairs so that way a child cannot climb over them and fall down the stairs. I'm quite sure that the gate making people do not want to get sued, so if your going to claim your gate is taller then regular gates and therefore safe to put at the top of stairs, I'm willing to bet they did TONS of tests to make sure this claim is true.

I remember the day I put the gate up. I was redoing our shelving in the entry closet, and CamCam kept opening his door and coming downstairs and getting into the paint, nails, tools, whatever was around. After about the twentieth time of putting him back into his crib, I remembered the gate that was being stored in my closet. I used it with his older brother for just this exact reason, and it worked beautifully. So he opened his door to see me screwing in the hinges on his door jamb.

"Hey," he said to me.

"Ha ha," I said. "Mommy finally got smart!" I walked away smiling to myself. Even if he didn't take the nap he so desperately needed, atleast I had an hour where I didn't have to worry about him getting into stuff.

Fast-forward to today. I'm sitting here, eating lunch, when who do I see coming down the stairs? I thought maybe I didn't hinge it correctly. Nope- this is what I find instead:

The little bugger outsmarted me and used this red bin to climb over. On a side note, is it really necessary to throw all his stuffed animals over the gate first???

So I take the bin out of his room and put him back to bed. Doesn't matter, out again, this time he found a small plastic container that was holding building blocks to climb up on. So I remove ALL containers from his room. There is NOTHING he can climb on to get out, except the toy box but I can barely move that, there's no way he's going to be able to.

I'm back downstairs, eating my lunch, when who do I see sitting at the bottom of the stairs all proud of himself?!?!?! I shouldn't be surprised he found a way out, but I am! His 4 year old brother, who's tall for his age, can't get out with the gate up, how on earth did he do it? I put him back in his room and tell him to come to me, because I've got to see this one for myself.