If you haven't read this children's book you should! (author Judith Viors) I bring it up because the title of my day yesterday could have been Sarah and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
It started out with a photo appointment with both girls. Even though I have a million snap shots of the girls, I wanted professionals with a plain background to frame. The plan was to get pictures of the each of the girls individually, but more importantly one of them together. I knew this had the potential to implode, so I invited Grandma JoAnn along to help contain Allie. Little did I know that she, I, & the photographer were little match for one "busy" two-year-old.
Allie, or 'big business' as she is affectionately known, refused to sit still, look at the camera, or smile. We had a hard him corralling her in the photo shop, let alone her seat in the little room. I tried to amuse her with her favorite distraction, “chap”, a.k.a. chapstick. Once I realized the tactic was flawed (chap in ever shot) it was too late to abort mission. I pondered, how do I discipline a toddler & then hope for a great smiling photo?
Kylie, ‘small business’, was tired by the time we reverted to her & wanted nothing more than to be swaddled and suck on the pacifier; a pose we’ve capture many times at home. The photographer was not much help, although I don’t blame her for the debacle. After 45 minutes, she dropped strong hints that our time was up & I waved the white flag. We surrendered exhausted, batter, & bruised with only a few shots to choose from: none with smiles & only 2 of Kylie. We didn’t even attempt getting the girls in the same shot. I’ll have to try again. Maybe more backups?
Allie’s nap time has become a struggle the past few weeks & this day was to be the worst! Since she had a 30 minute power nap on the drive home, she put up quite a fight. Her sleep-avoiding strategy has been evolving over the past days & weeks. First she knocked on the door, then she opened the door, & now she doesn’t try to come out of here room since we’ve established the fact she will be put right back in. Since asking for a drink & begging ‘hungry’ have failed, she now puts her energy into demolishing her room.
This day she was VERY tired when I first put her down to sleep, in fact ‘bed’ had been her request. As I feed Kylie, I heard her for playing & singing for nearly an hour. Then she opened the door buck naked! I dressed her & tucked her in again. She snuggled into the pillow & appeared to be ready to drift off. But no, when I looked in on her almost another hour later she had pulled all the bins of clothing out of the closet, scattered all the toys, & pulled all the diapers out of the Sam’s club box.
What is a mother to do? I must have missed the class on dealing with two-year-olds because I was/am stumped. If anyone attended, PLEASE fill me in! Frustrated, I tried a new approach: checking if she was in bed every 10 min & taking a toy if she wasn’t. She understood the idea when I explained it, but tested me, with lots of crying, for an hour before giving in to sleep. By that time I was developing a headache & it was time to feed Kylie again. When Nate called to say he was on his way home (we planned on going to the lake a 4pm), Allie had slept 45 min & me less than a half hour.
It was a big rush to make sandwiches, load the girls, & hitch on the boat since we had guests waiting to go. I could hardly think due to the headache , which didn’t let up as I had hoped. I ended up throwing up over the side of the boat as our friends wakeboarded. I have to say that it was a gorgeous evening and Allie & Kylie were both very well behaved on the boat. Thank goodness! Once my stomach was empty, I started to feel better & even got out on the board myself even if I didn’t feel like it. It would have been the perfect ending for a terrible day, if Kylie hadn’t screamed the last 20 min & the whole way home. Come to find out she was hungry – so much for nursing on the boat (guess the bumps make it hard or something).
Today we stayed home in jammies all day. Maybe we will venture our tomorrow…maybe.
This photo was taken just a week after the one I posted earlier.
Yesterday I laid Kylie on the floor to 'kick'. Allie spread her blanket out next to her & kicked, too.
Allie LOVE going out to the farm...especially when she gets to ride on the 4-wheeler with daddy. It is hard to get her back into the car when it is time to go home. Kylie just like to sleep in the car at this point, but I'm sure she will be riding with her sister before long.
