toddler

My sweet little Aves is turning into a grumpy toddler. She has a cold, that might count for some of it but she uses the word “no” quite frequently. She is also having some sleep regression. She went from going down with a wave goodnight and then not a peep til morning, to crying as soon as I close the door. Nothing makes me want to throw myself in front of a bus more than hearing her cry for hours. She knows what she is doing, and it’s been working. Mom needs to toughen up.

We went ahead and changed all our clocks on Saturday and just went with it. Besides Averi’s hours of fighting bed time, it went decently. Kaili’s daily routine involves a lot of clocks and timers. She gets a fair warning before every transition from getting dressed for school to brushing her teeth at night. It helps avoid power struggles and gives her time to process what comes next without the meltdowns. I can’t wait to start with Averi, it might make bedtime a bit easier. The other night when I was reading to K she said, “mommy, I hear my clock ticking!” She meant her heart beating, how cute is that? It made me smile, the pureness of childhood.

We are starting to get some goodies from the garden. Kaili gets to water and pick the red ripe strawberries. She usually gets too eat them too, but from what I have tasted they are perfect!

It’s taken a couple of weeks but Kaili has finally come to the realization that she can get out of her bed any time she wants. I was woken to the pitter patter of feet then she demanded I “get up” at 6 this morning. I knew it would happen but I hoped it wouldn’t, at least that early.

I am going to give this Ok to Wake clock a try. I was explaining to her that her new clock will turn green when she can get up and leave her room. Well I didn’t realize that the light on our bedroom clock is green so now I have screwed myself because it’s “time to get up” all night long in our room. She comes in a says, “green, get up”, so I think she will grasp the concept but will she actually follow it?

Speaking of following directions. I got her progress report yesterday…yes they do that in preschool. It’s more of a developmental checklist and since it’s the one I chose for the school I can’t complain. She is right where she should be, not behind, not ahead. There are certain things she knows but doesn’t master consistently and it’s time she learns how to hold and use scissors, hopefully with all her hair in tact.