Yesterday was an interesting day. FULL of heart-stoppers. Seriously, ya’ll – it’s a wonder I lived through them all. As if Becca actually calling me “mommy” for the first time the night before wasn’t enough (she normally says “mama”), she woke up 45 minutes late all snuggly and sweet and just laid her head on my shoulder for the longest time. Be still my heart.
Then, we get to take Cody to lunch, and she decides to snuggle with Cody while in the line at KFC. I mean, serious snuggles. Again, my heart stops. Nothing gets me like seeing my two loves together. Snuggling. (come on, let’s all do a collective “AWWWW”)
After her nap, though, came the REAL heart-stopper. She’s getting good at going up AND down the stairs. Which was our summer project after she accidentally ended up halfway up the stairs a few weeks ago after sneaking UNDER the gate … and realized she had no clue how to get down. She was petrified. So, she’s been doing good on stairs with lots of practice. She even did the stairs at a friend’s house this weekend. Except when Miss Independent takes over and she decides to do it her way. I was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, and she was at the top. Thankfully, we have a short set of four stairs and a landing, then a turn and the long set of stairs. Because she decided to stand up, holding on to the railing, and then try to walk down the stairs! The girl who has taken at most four steps alone. And before I could do or say anything, she was on the landing. This is why we are still in practice mode and mommy always sits on the stairs when she’s on them. The tears that ensued took about 20 agonizing seconds to hit, and I still wonder if she didn’t briefly get the wind knocked out of her. I ran up the stairs so fast that I’m not even sure if my feet touched all the steps. I was in a hurry. I picked her up and did a quick check – everything LOOKED fine. Except for the bright red face that had crocodile tears pouring down it and of course, my ears, that were temporarily deafened by the screaming that was going on. Poor thing. She was a mess. But I immediately realized that I had to make her go down the rest of the stairs. Otherwise, she might forever be petrified of them! I had to make her get back on “the horse and ride.” So, despite her protests, I sat her down on the landing, and slid her bottom down every single step. She finally calmed down and did the last two on her own, until she was sitting on the wood floor. Thankfully, George was within sight inside her room, and she immediately took off for him.
Because of the stress of the situation, all she wanted to do for the hour and a half til her daddy got home was sit in my lap (with George), play on my phone, and listen to me read EVERY SINGLE BOOK SHE OWNS. I happily obliged. This girl doesn’t sit still in my lap that long – ever – in the history of her life! I’ll take all the snuggles I can get! Be still my heart. Snuggles!! Twice in one day!
Then somehow when it was time for bed, we just couldn’t get the normal rhythm. I’m not sure what was wrong, but apparently EVERYTHING was. Tears. And tears. And tears. Finally, I went to check on her again and thought maybe she needed to potty. So, I sat her on her potty and waited. And waited. And waited. While she looked through all of her magazines – TWICE. I asked if she was all done, and she didn’t say anything, but leaned forward, like she does when she is done… So I grabbed her hands to help stand her up… and… TEARS. Heart stops again. Warm shower on my leg. Sigh. Noone told me potty training would be THIS much fun. In the dim lighting I was unable to see the fact that she was mid-stream. My leg, her legs, the chair, the floor, her nightgown, and the pull-up do NOT thank me for failing to turn on the light. Bless her heart, she was petrified. Little Miss Neat-and-Clean-Big-Girl-Who-Potties-On-the-Potty? Yeah, notsomuch. Sigh. Thankfully after that trauma, she went to sleep fairly quickly. I guess the stress just finally wore her out!
It’s a wonder my heart made it through the day yesterday. What a roller coaster! But, I wouldn’t change ANY of them for ANYTHING in the world.
Here’s my sweet snuggle-bug yesterday morning sporting her new-to-her Elmo p-jammers and waiting on breakfast. I just love this girl so much it’s crazy!
Butterbees and Bumbleflies 