Worst Night's Sleep

last night started off well enough.  harper fell asleep around 1030 which means yay! me time!  and last night me time = a glass of wine, a brownie (thanks mom!), watching Eclipse (so sue me for liking twilight. and then get over it), and reading this blog (read. laugh. love.) between the hours of 11 and 230 am i managed to: find my retainer that i haven't wore in like 8 years and wear it (for real), look up "lovehandle exercises" and do them (pregnancy and bed rest does not make your body look nice, fyi), realize "the new girl" wasn't on tv (boo!), and not do anything for class.  when i realized how late it was i popped 3 melatonins and passed.out. 20 minutes later.  LESS THAN two hours later harper starts waking up like it's friggin' 10am.  NOT COOL, KID.  i finally get her to settle down and sleep again.  but i'm wide awake.  i'm hot, then cold.  open window turn on fan.  breathing funny cause of retainer (also, it's painful. why did i think this was a good idea?).  have to pee like 4 times in 30 minutes.  toss and turn.  wake up around 6 when wade comes to bed and realized that i had finally fallen asleep but have once again been woken up!  cheese and rice people!  toss and turn for another 15 minutes before falling asleep.  thankfully, harper slept until after 10.  ah, the joys of co-sleeping!

This picture has nothing to do with the post.  Such a darn cute face!

I Swear We're Not Pervs

so today i took harper to the grocery store (which, by the way, is like heaven to me).  no big deal.  just another ordinary shopping trip.  

but harper hates to sit in seats: high chairs, booster seats, car seats, dining room table seats, booths...you get the picture.  but she absolutely HATES shopping carts.  she prefers to push them, which i sometimes let her do depending on how quickly we need to get out of the store.  today was a day i wanted to get my shopping done and go home.  and harper wanted to get out of the cart so bad.  she kept standing up which led to me telling her repeatedly to sit down or else she was going to fall out of the cart and crack her skull open (cause 18-month olds have reasoning skills, correct?)  anyway, she's trying and to get her legs out of the holes at the front of the cart but she doesn't have great dexterity yet (holy moly this kid's been walking for awhile now and STILL looks like the Frankenstein monster).  let me pause a moment to say that harper, who has been talking up a storm, isn't quite able to pronounce all syllables the way they're supposed to be said - i.e. sock is "gock" and stuck is "guck."  it's cool because i know what she's talking about usually.  however, at this moment - the same moment a mother with three younger children decideds to saunter by - the letter "G" has completely left harper's vocabulary.  so as she's trying to free her leg she looks up desperately at me and says, "COCK!  COCK!"  like, for real kid???  FOR REAL???  and i'm all, "yes, honey!  i know you're STUCK!  let momma help you!" and all the while (instictively maybe?? i don't know why!) i put my hand over her mouth and quickly retrieve her from the cart.  all the while this mom is looking at me like "OMG lady!  you're kid just said COCK out loud in public!  that's the most embarassing thing ever!" and she hurried down the aisle.  now, honestly, i was a teensy bit embarassed (can you tell?) but i was also quite amused.  i mean, come on, it is pretty darn funny.  and it's even more hilarious now as i think back on the scene and that woman's face.

so i finished up the shopping and we went to check out.  and harper decided it was a fabulous time to poo and shout "POOPY BUTT!" over and over as we exited the store.

seriously?!?  but totally my kid.

Little Silly

Warning:  If you didn't come here to marvel at a plethora of adorable 18-month old pictures look away NOW.  Otherwise, soak up this delicious cuteness.  Enjoy.

 

10 pictures and not one captured her ponytail.  (Actually I took 38 pictures and none of them had it in there either. How is that possible?)

The Zoo

On Friday, Wade and I took Harper to the zoo for the first time.

 Despite the nice, cool weather it was not the time to go.  Many, if not all, of the animals were out for seeing, but the attractions, snack stands, and rides were all closed.  We still had a good time, but we'll definitely go earlier next year.  Harper's favorite animals (let's not get into specifics here) were the fish and the momma and baby elephant:

Now if only we could find a petting zoo!

Fashionista

This is what she did when I said, "Freeze!"

Pre-Terrible Twos

Harper is still far off from the "Terrible Twos" phase that everyone claims toddlers go through.  However, she's been giving us all a taste of what that's going to be like for the past few weeks.  I know she's got it rough.  She's able to comprehend what's being said to her far better than she can communicate which often leads to frustration and anger.  Sometimes this frustrated anger is expressed through tears or grunts of exasperation, but there are other times when she gets overly emotional and hits someone (or something, including the poor dogs).  For the most part, we redirect her.  We tell her it's wrong to hit and try to distract her with something else.  But sometimes she likes to get her point across and lashes out again.  So we've been trying Time Out.  At first it was very effective.  One minute sitting in an area that is completely removed from distractions was enough to get the point across that we aren't going to tolerate hitting.  After the minute is up, we go to her tell her the offense that is unacceptable and ask her if she would like to say she's sorry.  98% of the time this works.  Lately, though, "no" has become her favorite word (wait, haven't I been saying this for the past few months???).  For example, after her minute was up in Time Out the other day the situation went like this:

Me: Harper, you know Momma doesn't like it when you hit.  Can you tell Momma you're sorry?

Harper: No.

Me: You aren't sorry for hitting Momma?

Harper:(shyly) Nooo.

Me: Hmm, okay.  Well, do you want to stay in Time Out until you're sorry?

Harper:  (very excitedly) YES!

So I left her sitting in Time Out and went back to whatever it was I was doing before.  She was devastated so I didn't let her sit there much longer before going back and repeating what I had asked her before.  This time she jumped up and put her arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder.  We're trying to get her to see that we don't hit her when we're upset or angry and when we do do something that hurts someone else or we do something that they don't like, we apologize and make them feel better.  It seems to be working somewhat.  She understands that being sorry means giving a hug or a kiss.  Time Out isn't enough to get her to stop hitting or throwing things, etc. but she does think twice about doing the action (either while doing it or right after you can see it in her face or she immediately hugs you).  Sometimes I feel that Time Out is ineffective and is just making her feel bad about herself.  Sometimes I feel that it is just teaching her the wrong thing - do something bad to someone/something, hug them/make it right, everything's okay but really nothing's changed - and we're not getting the right point across to her.  But I'm at a loss for what to do differently.  I do get on her level and talk with her, but I know that she's only 17 months old and cannot comprehend everything I say.  We really try to not spank as I feel hitting equals more hitting (at least that's how it is with Harper).  I don't like yelling because it scares her and sends the opposite message.  So until I can figure out another way of handling these types of situations, we're sicking with Time Out.  I know things will getting better as she learns how to express herself more through words.  I also know none of us is perfect and there will always be outbursts.  My hope is that we're teaching her the right way and that there will be more outbursts of love and happiness rather than anger.  This parenting thing is not without it's challenges.  But when those little arms go around my neck I feel like melting into a sappy puddle right on the floor.

Cuteness Abounds

The school year is once again underway for Wade and me.  Lots of reading, late nights, and crazy schedules.  But we're still able to find time for some fun.  I have pictures to prove it, too :)  

Harper's Nutella experience.  From head to toe.  Literally.

Watching Youtube videos with Daddy before bed.

Having fun at lunch with Mimi.

Getting all dressed up, complete with curls (and Mimi's necklace)

And just acting silly!