I filled the Olympics-shaped void in my heart with Stranger Things last week. I highly recommend it. The first couple of episodes were super stressful to me, but I still loved it, and I think the ending was fantastic. And now I'm obsessed (and I don't use that word lightly) with Gaten Matarazzo, the kid that played Dustin. If you hear that I've been arrested and thrown into prison, you can 100% trust that it's because I tried to kidnap Gaten. I just can't help it. He is the funniest, most adorable non-Millie kid I've ever seen. He gives me hope for the future of our world. But the main thing you need to know is that he sang Bring Him Home from Les Mis (and P.S.- he used to BE in Les Mis on Broadway!!!) at a karaoke birthday party and it is the greatest video on the internet. So go watch it.
In less creepy news, Millie is as sassy and hilarious as ever.
She has buckets of opinions and personality and she keeps us in stitches most of the time. A few times recently, when I've gone into her room in the morning to wake/get her up, she jumps up in her crib and yells "I AWAKE!!!!!" as soon as I enter the room. And she has that same happy enthusiasm for pretty much all of life.
Well, except for the things that she doesn't like or doesn't want to do, including but not limited to: being offered a sippy cup that offends her. Being offered a different cup that is also terrible. Not being offered any more cups. Being thirsty, but not finding any acceptable drinking vessels in the whole world. Going outside (because of bees). Not going outside (want outside!!). Wanting milk, but only from Mommy's Yeti, which IS NEVER AN OPTION BUT IT IS THE ONLY THING IN THE WORLD THAT MIGHT MAKE HER HAPPY. And um...some more things. You know. It's tough being two.
If we can navigate those tricky scenarios properly, though, she really is just the happiest kid. And right now she LOVES her babies. She is quite a little mama, and it makes me so happy to see her model what I can only assume are the amazing parental models she sees at home. ;) Although I don't feel like Matt and I run over Millie with huge dump trucks quite as often as she seems to with her babies, but I'm sure she'll grow out of that some day.
I've been busy hitting up all of the local "fall" (hahaha lol Georgia) consignment sales lately, and I got this building set thing because it seemed STEM-y and smart and what-not. It was super fun and all but maybe I'm not quite ready for toys like this because a) I almost had a heart attack at all of the PIECES all over the floor, and b) I couldn't actually let Millie help or touch it because the whole thing was very fragile and everything had to be just so in order for it to stay together, and her bulldozer approach to life didn't really work with that. But she was nice enough to smile for a picture inside my finished product, moments before I put the whole thing away and said "maybe we can get it out again in five years."
She's doing really well with potty training. She's wearing pull-ups most of the time during the day at school and is successful on the potty probably 75% of the time, maybe? At home she mostly wears undies and I'd also say she's maybe 75% successful. I told her that when she doesn't wear any more diapers or pull-ups and wears her undies ALL of the time (well, not at night), she will be a Big Girl and she can get her ears pierced. This is a big deal- she LOVES my earrings and is always putting things on her ears, pretending she has earrings, so I figured it would be a good incentive. So far it is, because I hear "no dipe-dipe. EARRINGS!!" and "yay undies. EARRINGS!" many times a day.
The swing set is still a big hit and also the biggest hurdle to potty-training, ha. Most of her accidents occur out there because she can't be bothered to go inside to take care of business. So I guess we need to get a porta-potty installed or something. Gotta set her up for a win so she can get those earrings, right??! (P.S. Browsing the toddler earrings on Amazon is way more fun than it should be. I'm as excited about this as she is! But I can't decide if we should get her ears done at like Claire's or at a tattoo/piercing place. Our peds office doesn't do them. I've heard good arguments for both options...any opinions or experience with that?)
We had a scary day last week- when Millie woke up on Wednesday morning, she couldn't walk. Like her right knee buckled out and she screamed in pain any time she tried to put weight on it. It was horrible. I have videos and they will make you cry. She was slithering on her belly to get around. I was scared to death because she was totally fine the day and night before, hadn't had any unusual falls or injuries- how on earth did she hurt herself badly enough to be unable to walk overnight??! We took her to the pediatrician, and he wasn't able to figure it out, so he sent us to an orthopedist. They did several knee, leg, and hip x-rays, but also couldn't find anything amiss. Through the course of the day, though, she'd gradually gotten better and was walking again- first with a severe limp, and later on with hardly a limp at all. By the next day, she wasn't even limping. It was the weirdest thing. We had a follow-up with the orthopedist two days later, and she was still completely fine. So he said it was probably toxic synovitis (scary name, not scary condition) or (my theory, which he said was also plausible) she may have slept with her leg caught in her crib slat and had a severe 'crick' in her hip or knee that took awhile to wear off. I don't know. But I sure am glad she recovered quickly, and I am so thankful for her good health in general.
And that's all the news from here. I'm looking forward to the weekend and "moving in" to our new attic that Matt recently finished building- now all the
Love all the Millie updates, of course, but EEK about that not walking thing - I bet that was scary for all 3 of you! Glad she is a-ok and can get back to things like asserting her opinions and being enthusiastic about life :)
ReplyDeleteThat Mills is one smart kid! To be almost potty trained and recognize that no diapers means she will get her ears pierced! I am IMPRESSED!! Seriously!!
ReplyDeleteAs for the piercing, I got my ears pierced at Claire's when I was 13. I think it's your best bet and the less scary for Millie option. I believe they can do both ears at the same time now, which is way better than doing one and then knowing it will hurt and waiting for the next!
I've been to two tattoo parlor's in my town, which if you knew me IRL, You would probably just have fainted from shock. ha. I don't do needles! But I had my Belly Button pierced at one, and it was a terrible experience. And long story short, I had to have it re pierced a few years later, and went to a different place. The second place was OK, but I would recommend claires:)
I don't have an option on the ear piercing because my boys won't let me pierce their ears. You're so lucky!
ReplyDeleteAs for Millie's knee. We see that quite often. When a little one has pain of such degree they do refuse to hear weight. If nothing show up on films then it's generally thought to be the toxic synovitis. I'm so so happy it wasn't something worse and I really hope it doesn't happen again. xoxo
We have the same building set and it is hazardous! My boys take one stick, pop one of the connector balls on it and then either hit each other's with it or fling it at one another like Thor's hammer. Yes save it for like 5 years down the road!!
ReplyDeleteAlways love your updates :)
ReplyDeleteSo strange on the walking thing - that happened to our son right around when he turned 2, except his was suddenly around dinner time. He was playing and all of the sudden said his knee hurt and would not put pressure on it for a few hours. No amount of distraction could get him to walk on it. Then, almost as suddenly, he could limp on it and was totally fine in the morning. It was so heartbreaking while we waited though! So glad Millie's leg was ok!
You really have to blog more often so that my comments aren't a mile long.
ReplyDelete1 - Cracking up over the STEM stuff. We bought Trent his first Lego set when he was 3 because he was obsessed with garbage trucks, but of course he couldn't build it, so I had to do it (my first time building a set), and he wanted to help and I wouldn't let him, ha.
2 - Potty training - we learned a trick from Drew's teacher for helping them do better outside. You say 'Hey Millie, do you want to go play outside?' and when she says 'Yes!' then you say 'It sure would be fun to go outside but we have to potty first.' So give her an incentive ha.
3 - Earrings - I was going to pierce Drew's before 1 to just not have to deal with it but I didn't and now she says she doesn't want it! Womp, womp. BUT you could check to see if other Pedi offices do it - there are several here that do but ours didn't.
4 - When Trent was 4 1/2 he was in the hospital for a week because of having a bacterial infection in his knee. But the bacteria didn't grow for days so at first they thought it was toxic synovitis but then he kept getting worse so he ended up in the hospital. It was so horrible. Glad Millie's cleared up quickly!
Every day I am so thankful that Bowen is healthy other than the very tiny things we deal with. I'm glad Millie is ok but I would have been worried too! Can't wait to see her earrings! I would go to Claire's although a picture of Miller outside of a tattoo place would be hilarious!
ReplyDeleteGlad she is ok. . . What a scary experience!
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with the above comment! Regardless of your decision, let's get a pic of Millie in front of the tattoo parlor mmmkay?
earrings sound like a great incentive for potty training!!!
ReplyDeletewe got eliana's done at claires. it was fine for us! they did it one ear at a time but they let her hold a stuffed animal inbetween and they helped calm her down. i have heard of some people using a tatoo/piercing place but i would probably want one where they did ear piercings somewhat frequently so they know what they are doing.
as far as the type of earrings, we just got the standard ones for eliana but she somehow figured how to pull them earrings off. since the earring are so tiny, tom was worried about her eating it and choking. so we bought some screw back earrings. she hasn't been able to get those off :)
Do you think earrings will work as an incentive for G? When Millie is officially a Big Girl and all done with that diaper nonsense, I'll be happy to send a load home with you to wash. It'll be good for your heart.
ReplyDeleteYou are the best momma! Millie always looks so happy, sweet, and fun...Your story is my favorite!
ReplyDeleteLove your blog and saw your post about your daughter loving your earrings and soon to have them pierced, but where? Well, our daughter, Sandi, was a little fashionista, and L-O-V-E-D playing with my earrings and kept saying, "...I want earwigs like mommy." What could I do, but asked our ped who said it was fine to go ahead at 25 mos if mommy would care for them. Although her office didn't do them, she actually reassured me it wasn't too late and said many moms do it sooner, but she wouldn't remember having it done now and would just grow up with earrings. Since she was already asking for them, all my boxes were checked.
ReplyDeleteShe gave me some suggestions for moms having their dd's ears pierced which included best type of earrings, how to find the right person and place and even some OTC meds to minimize any
discomfort. I followed her advice and we took her were very pleased! She barely shed one tear.
Since your're seriously thinking about it, then your mommy intuition is telling you now is best and I'd go ahead. You haven't missed the window of opportunity. If your unsure how she'd look, then hold some of your studs next to her ears in front of the mirror. Warning: she'll look very cute.
Some say not to do it as a toddler, but our ped had some great ideas to follow for toddlers and little girls. If you'd like our ped's suggestions, write me an e-mail.
Amy
amyswor1765@gmail.com