14 Months: The way she do the things she do

Yesterday Daisy turned 14 months old and if there were any lingering doubts about her initiation into toddlerhood, she has been firmly erasing them all one by one.

Although it has felt to us, oh inexperienced parents, as though she has not been a baby since she started walking five months ago, we're beginning to realize that, of course, we had no idea. Toddlerhood is a whole other world altogether: a world of developing likes, DISLIKES, frustrations, skills, fun, and challenges. So, just like infanthood, it has its share of the good and bad.

Daisy is still our fun, happy little munchkin, for the most part, but she has grown into her impatience and willfulness in new ways. This has meant that our house is much louder than it ever was. There is much more screaming and crying as Daisy experiences the disappointment of not getting what she wants when she wants it, not being able to communicate exactly what it is she does want, and not being able to fine-tune her motor skills fast enough to achieve some of the things she wants to do. We're trying to resist "fixing" every frustration with the ole parental cork (aka: Mr. Binky) but at some point in the day, it becomes the only thing standing between YOU and a parental meltdown.

Car rides have become the hardest, with Daisy steadfastly determined to spontaneously combust unless she we pass the binky. As I said, we're trying not to but it means you need a few yoga breaths before you get in the car.

A couple of weeks ago we were in BabiesRUs and we passed one of those sample CD displays, the ones where you can choose a CD and hear a clip. As we were passing, "Alice the Camel" blared out at us and, since this is one of Daisy's favorite tunes from swim lessons, we ended up buying a "Little People" CD of kids' songs. On the off-chance it would buy our ears a break, we turned it on the other day in the middle of one of her crying fits and - hey presto! - it worked almost as well as a binkie. Daisy sat in the back seat flailing her arms to the tunes of "If you're happy and you know it..." and "Incy Wincy Spider". Splendid, you might think, except Hubby made the point that he didn't know what was worse: the crying or the kids music. Amen to that.

Maybe all of this could be alleviated if we could turn Daisy to front-facing in the car. However, she has still not broken 20lbs, the legal minimum for her to turn forward and, given that she all-but gave up eating during her recent bout of flu, she appears to have lost almost half a pound since her last check-up. It's kind of laughable but our car seat allows kids to stay rear-facing up until 45lbs and they do advise you to leave your kid in the rear position for as long as the seat allows but, given her current weight trajectory, she may still be facing the rear window ten years from now! So, we're going with the 20lb limit and praying that she'll make it to the big two-o by the time she gets to her 15 month appointment.

Here are some other highlights at month 14:

BONK

Not satisfied with accidentally bumping her head on random objects, when you say "Mind your head, Daisy" she will now actively seek-out the protruding object and purposefully bonk her head lightly on it a few times, as if to test the legitimacy of our concerns. Sometimes she doesn't do so well on the "lightly" part and so tears ensue. I can tell this girl is going to be an experiential learner.

HELP ME! NO! PLEASE! DON'T! NOW!

I've been trying to teach Daisy the words "Help please", so that she can ask for assistance when she gets stuck with something. Sometimes you jump in to help her and she gets super mad and other times she looks at you like "Dude! Could use some help over here!" (closely followed by blood-curdling screams of frustration) as you diligently try to give her space to figures things out for herself. So, a little help for us would be appreciated. This past week she finally started saying "Help" (which sounds more like "Hup!" in Daisy-speak) but, unfortunately, she doesn't mean what she says. Even with the cue, she often isn't ready or willing to accept help and gets just as mad at you for stepping in, as she was at the inanimate object(s) for not bending to her will. It's a lose-lose situation, unfortunately. I've given up trying to make it better and usually settle for standing back, watching, and trying to find the humor.

THE TWO HOUR MORNING

Since she has been recovering from her flu, Daisy has been taking mega morning naps. She'll awaken at around 6:30am, gulp milk, stuff a piece of toast into her face, dash around at warp speed, maybe eat some fruit and pancakes, and then start to get fussy again around 8:30. By 9:30 SHE is the toast and we have to put her back down again for a nap, where she has been going down for anywhere from 1.5 - 3 hours. Poof goes the morning! On the plus side, this usually means she's at one nap for the day, giving you more free reign to head out and get things done without having to decide whether to come home for nap #2. On the negative side, it's noon before your day really gets started.


PEEKABOO!
THE CUTEST thing Daisy does right now is play peekaboo with you. She'll cover her eyes with her hands (although peeking through her fingers) and then ceremoniously pull them away, waiting for you to say "peekaboo". I love it.  No matter what I'm doing or how I'm feeling, I'll always stop to peekaboo with Daisy.


STILL SINGING AND DANCING
Almost ANYTHING in our house can be accomplished with a select set of children's songs and nursery rhymes. Favorites are: Incy Wincy Spider, Old Macdonald, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, If You're Happy and You Know It, and The Wheels on the Bus. Most are accompanied by arm action (Incy climbing the spout, rain coming down, sun coming out, stars twinkling etc...) but the best is The Wheels on the Bus, where Daisy will bob up and down with the people on the bus as well as swish-swish-swish with the wipers. It's awesome.


Daisy has also shown a preference for dance/pop music with a driving beat. She loves my cell phone ring tone, Keisha's "Tik Tok", as well as some Black Eyes Peas, Katie Perry and some Jason Garullo to name just a few. When she hears these songs on the radio (or my phone) she leans her head from side to side, swings her arms and beams a big smile. That's my girl!

SHUUUUUUUUUUZ
Daisy has a new "thing" with trying to put on her shoes herself. She will spend literally twenty minutes trying every-which-way but the right way to put her shoes on her feet. It's hilarious to watch and the patience she shows (when she chooses to) is admirable.

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'M READING
Little missy loves books. Of all the thousands of dollars of toys she has laying around, it's the books that keep her most happy. The other night, Hubby and I were putting away clothes in our master bedroom and we realized that we hadn't seen or heard from her in a while. (Please, no commenting on our parenting skills.) We peeked our heads around her bedroom door and saw that she was sitting in the middle of a pile of books, flipping away. She continued for another ten or fifteen minutes and so we took it upon ourselves to lay on the bed and relax until she got bored and came in to find out what we were up to. It's a peek into the future, we hope, when we'll be able to leave her in her room sometimes to do her own thing, while we do ours.


EXPANDING VOCAB
New words recently are: shoes, up, help, and keys. 


One year, so far, has been a fun time with Daisy. She is loving, funny, and full of personality. I'm really enjoying this time with her!