Weekend Fun with the Grandparents!

Grandma Sue & Grandpa Dan came up this past weekend for a quick visit.  They came up a little past 2 on Saturday & then had to leave mid-Sunday morning.  I had been showing her a family picture & prepping her for 3 days that Grandma & Grandpa were visiting.  Boy was Baylee so excited to see them!

We went to Latuff's for an early dinner & the girls were very good.  Baylee is pretty easy to entertain now at a restaurant since she is all into coloring, or rather mommy & daddy drawing her hearts, music notes, princess castles, princess crowns, etc.  While we were there, Baylee ate pizza!  She didn't want any of the extra toppings (hamburger & onion or sausage & mushrooms), but she ate almost 2 slices of the crust, tomato sauce, & cheese.  Livy, of course, was content sitting in the high chair scoping out the other patrons all the while getting baby food shoved in her mouth.  The child LOVES to eat.  Livy gets super impatient when you don't get the food in to her mouth fast enough.  She starts grabbing at the jar & spoon while flailing her little limbs & crying.  I hope Livy is an adventurous eater.

After dinner, Mike & I went out to Jake's for some dessert.  Grandma took over entertaining the little monkey.  Grandma brought B some Play-doh.  It was B's first time playing with Play-doh & she had a blast!  The child has quite the imagination pretending her creations were food, jewelry, & so forth.  There was one tool that squeezed out Play-doh ropes, which freaked Baylee out a little.  I think she must have thought they were worms, & Baylee HATES bugs.

Sunday, we had a leisurely breakfast.  Their visit was much too short, but we'll see them again in a month.  All of us plus Aunt Katie & Uncle Justin (Mike's sister & her hubby), & Great-aunt Linda & Great-uncle John will be going to WI for a cabin weekend.  That should be lots of fun & hopefully the leaves will have changed colors by then.

"Niki's Nose" & Other Baylee-isms

The pediatrician said that at 2, I should be able to understand 1/2 of what Baylee says.  Baylee repeats the same things over & over again that I can pretty much tell what she's saying at any given moment.  The girls' babysitter is Niki.  Niki was Baylee's favorite aide at Block Time, so she was the ideal person for me to ask to babysit.  Anyway, Niki draws lots of hearts for Baylee, so Baylee always asks mommy & daddy to draw them at home too.  For the longest time, we thought Baylee was asking us to draw "Niki's nose."  It was just a few days ago it dawned on me that she wasn't saying Niki's nose; she was saying MUSIC NOTES!  Niki wore a charm bracelet the first night she babysat for us & one of the charms was music notes.  I'm sure Baylee was thinking "Gosh, mom & dad are idiots" whenever we drew noses.

Weekly Recap

We had a pretty busy week & now we're looking forward to a visit from Grandma & Grandpa Young (Mike's parents).  On Monday, we drove into the city to play with the girls' cousin Nina.  Nina is officially bigger than Baylee.  :P  We took the girls to Lynnhurst Park, which is within walking distance of their great-aunt's house.  There is a small wading pool & a playground for the girls to run around.

For a change, there were more adults than kids!  The girls' great-cousin Katherine & her boyfriend, Ben were also in town from L.A.  Here is a pic of B being a cheeseball.  Their "uncle" Joe is pushing both girls on the swing.

Here's a longer video of Livy swinging.  She's not as animated as the previous video, but she's still pretty fired up.

Tuesday was our miracle errand day.

On Wednesday we went to a playdate at the Lookout in Maple Grove.  It's a restaurant with a playset on it's patio area.  We figured some play & lunch would be fun, but we had some of the worst service ever by a waitress that perfectly exhibited "Minnesota nice."  I won't get into the details here (you can read my Yelp review for that), but I was so annoyed by the server's attitude that I wrote a complaint letter.  The manager was very concerned & wrote back telling me that they reprimanded the server & invited us to come back by sending me a gift certificate.

Yesterday, we did a babysitting swap with our friend Brenden.  His mom watches Baylee one morning & I watch Brenden another morning so we can go grocery shopping with just the babies.  It's much easier to shop with just a baby than an angry toddler & a baby.  Both kids are really good & have fun playing with one another.  I don't know exactly how Baylee is at Brenden's, but at our house, she sometimes gets really possessive of her toys & I have to encourage her to share.  B is going to get a rude awakening in 17 days (no, I'm not counting down) when she starts preschool!

We also went to the park yesterday afternoon to meet Lukas, Drew, & Luke for some fun.  Baylee played with her friend Lukas for perhaps the last time.  They are moving to Brainard soon.  :(  All of us went to Smashburger afterwards to eat dinner, & Charlie & Sam met us there.  We were supposed to go to the MG Farmers' Market, but Livy napped until 4:15, so I didn't think it was worth driving all the way out there.  Poor Charlie thought we were going to be there & kept telling people "Mommy, we're at the wrong park.  Baylee's not here."  I thought that was too cute.  At least they saw each other at dinner.

Tomorrow, Grandma & Grandpa come in town for a quick visit.  I'm frantically trying to put the house in respectable order.  The following weekend, Po-po, Ye-ye, Aunt Stephy (my sister), Uncle David, & their dog, Cori come to visit.  Baylee hasn't seen Stephy & David since Christmas, so I'm not sure if she'll remember who they are.  It will be a busy two weekends for us, but we're looking forward to having the grandparents entertain Baylee!  She certainly loves the attention.

Turning Over a New Leaf?

Today was errand day.  We didn't have anything going on this morning, so I decided we would get Baylee's hair trimmed & run to Costco since Snip-Its is in the same strip mall.  I had very low expectations as to how this was going to go, but I was prepared to hold B down during her hair cut & snatch her up & do a timeout in the car if need be.

Baylee was PERFECT the entire time.  I'm still in shock. No fuss at Snip-Its.  She let me strap her in the pink chair & the hair dresser put the cape on her.  Her last haircut, I had to restrain her & they put a cape around both of us.  I did allow her to have a lollypop as soon as we got in instead of at the very end, which helped.  She worked on 1 sucker her entire hair cut & calmly watched the movie.  When she was finished with the lollypop, but the hair cut wasn't finished, I handed her 1 animal cracker at a time.  Baylee was very excited to get the pink ribbon tied in her hair afterwards & she got some bubbles as her prize.

After the surreal haircut experience, we went to Costco.  The last time we did a Costco run, I ended up buying WAY more snacks than we needed.  I reminded B of 1-2-3 Magic & told her we would do a timeout if mommy got to 3.  B willingly got into the shopping cart.  I had placed her princess coloring book & some crayons in there.  Baylee's been a coloring freak lately, so this distracted her for 10 minutes.  Then, Bayls remembered she got bubbles, so I opened that for her & she blew bubbles for a little while.  After that she spotted a body pillow with the holy trinity of princesses, which I put in the cart for her.  She talked about Cinderella, Belle, & Aurora for the next 20 mins.  Every couple of minutes, Baylee would stand up in the cart & I'd remind her to sit down, which she did.  We even stopped by a demo station to get power green shakes (grapes, pineapple, spinach), which she willingly drank & took a strawberry tomato freeze to go!  As we checked out, I pulled Baylee out of the cart.  She still had her strawberry tomato freeze in her hands, but it was dribbling on the ground & onto her dress.  I handed her a wipe to clean up her dress & she wiped up the floor mess instead.  She threw away her cup & wipe without being prompted too, which amused the grandparents waiting behind us.  I didn't need to count at all!

Who is this child?!

Teething Baby

Poor Livy!  I couldn't figure out why she was so cranky the last few days.  She's been waking up a lot the last few nights despite me giving her some infant Motrin before going to bed.  Her upper teeth just came in, so I didn't think she was teething anymore.  After waking up at 10pm, I felt around & couldn't feel anything.  I took a quick peek & it looks like her 2 lower teeth next to the 2 bottom ones are coming in!  No wonder she's miserable.

This is a pic of her after she stopped crying.  Baylee never seemed to be affected by teething, but Livy is just miserable.  Constantly chomping on her fingers, not wanting to nurse.  It's so sad.  Hopefully she gets through this soon.

Livy Swinging!

One of the reasons I wish I had an iPhone.  :P  Another mom captured this for me today.  Livy LOVES being in the swing!

Bagel Breakfast & Playtime at the Park

The weekend Mike goes to Iowa happened to be the same weekend all the other hubbies decided to play golf & poker with one another.  Lucky me!  So, when the hubbies play, what are the mommies supposed to do on a foggy Saturday?  We invade the local Brueggers with our munchkins & go to the local park to burn off those calories!  Baylee hasn't been this good in a LONG time.  :)

Baylee played with her friends Jackson, Rahul, Brenden, & Charlie.  It's funny that she is the only girl, but because of that, all the boys are always yelling "Baylee, Baylee!"  I'm sure it's also because even though she's a girly girl, she's always willing to climb, run, & slide with them.  Mike will have his hands full one day.

Livy is so close to being 100% mobile.  She really wants to walk & spends her time pulling herself up & cruising among objects.  If she does want to get from point A to point B, then she crawls in her own unique way.  She whips her right leg around so she can push off with her right foot!  It's not conventional, but it gets her around really quickly.  :P

One thing I've noticed about Baylee recently is that she is very good about protecting possessions whether they are her own or others.  If someone grabs someone else's toy, Baylee will snatch it & return it to the owner.  I'm not sure what that is indicative of, but it's cute.  She's always looking out for the other person I guess!

BTW, yesterday I thought Baylee was taking a nap.  It was all quiet, so I go in to check on her & what is she doing?  Not napping, but painting the walls & her dresser with Desitin & Purell!  At least it was the blue tub of Desitin & not the purple stuff which is much thicker & stickier.  Thankfully, it wiped off pretty easily, but I'm sure there's still some residue left that I'll have to clean up later.  Of course, in the moment I was mad.  Now, it's kind of funny.  I'm sure she got the idea from the paints & soaps that we use in the bathtub.

Strong Willed Toddler

We took Baylee to the pediatrician yesterday since we've been struggling with her behavior the past few weeks.  After 75 minutes of explaining everything to him, the ped. says B's behavior is perfectly normal.  She's just a strong willed child.  Sigh.  While it's nice to know nothing is theoretically wrong with her, it's a bit frustrating too.  She's on the extreme end of what's considered normal.  Ped. said we can't control three things with toddlers--food, peeing/pooping, & sleep.  If we try to make a big deal out of those things, we're going to have power struggles.  In the meantime, the only thing we can do is be really consistent, model the behavior we want her to display, & just keep offering food we want her to eat.  If she lives off of yogurt, it's fine.  Her weight is within the acceptable limits (26.6 lbs. & in the 30th percentile) & still on the same curve since her 1 year visit.

The only recommendations the ped. had was a book for us "No" by David Walsh & trying to figure out how to give me a break more often since I'm completely burned out.  We have a list of child psychologists (not psychiatrists) to scope out as well.  The ped. suggested having a psychologist see how we interact with B so we can get some insight on what discipline tactics to use with her & maybe work on how to communicate with her since my personality & B's are completely different.  1-2-3 Magic seems to work, but maybe there is something else we can do as well.  We just need to figure out the insurance on a psychologist.

Splash Pad Fun!

The girls & I went to the St. Louis Park Splash Pad one hot Monday morning with our friends. I wasn't sure how it was going to work with Livy, but lo & behold baby girl wanted to check out the bubblers.

Getting a face full of water...

Crawling away upset

Baylee playing with her friend J. They're fighting over their friend C's bucket. :P

1-2-3 Magic?

One of my friends suggested using "1-2-3 Magic" to help with Baylee's wild temper tantrums.  I thought I was employing 1-2-3 Magic correctly, but I was messing up a key component of it.  When your child throws down, you begin the count & if you get to 3 & have to put them in the time out, you don't talk about their action that led to time out afterwards.  Also, you don't say anything counting between the numbers.  There's no talking & another key component is no emotion, which both Mike & I will have to work on.

They say that 1/2 the kids are compliant right away & the other 1/2 act up more before complying.

Exhaustion

I am so tired.  Baylee never stops whining or demanding things or throwing tantrums.  Livy is super needy; I can't put her down for a second before she starts to cry.  One or the other naps in the afternoon, or they both decide not to nap.  I'm so sleep-deprived that I've had a 2-month old tension headache that I can't shake.

The lure of a cup of coffee in the morning used to be enough to get me out of bed.  Lately, I lie in bed as Baylee tries to breakdown her bedroom door & Livy cries.  It's hard to will myself to get out of bed when I know what kind of day is in store for me, which sadly is the only predictability I  have these days.

On the bright side, I did get Baylee enrolled for a second day of preschool.  I hope that helps me get some much needed downtime.  I know Livy could use some one-on-one time with me.  Poor girl always gets left to fend for herself as I have to manage B.

Problem Feeder

For the last year, I thought Baylee was a picky eater.  I figured if we introduced a food to her enough times, she would at least try it.  It's been a long, on-going battle.  I've been told that it takes 15-20 times of introducing a food before a child will try it.  Well, I've introduced various foods more than that many times & she will not look at the food.  Her usual reaction is to scream & push the plate/bowl across the table.  Sometimes, she throws the offending food item.  I've always thought to myself that her reaction was way over the top, but she's a bit of a drama queen, so I ignored it.


As we approach her 3rd birthday, I'm becoming more & more worried.  Livy is going to look at her older sister & wonder why she doesn't or won't eat certain foods & Livy is going to do the same thing.  Baylee is dropping foods left & right.  Things she used to eat, she won't touch now.  She used to eat any type of fruit, but now she will only take a few bites of banana & grapes.  We used to be able to get her to eat pancakes, bagels with cream cheese, toast, peanut butter sandwiches.  She hasn't touched any of those foods in months.  This isn't right.  Her main source of nutrition right now is yogurt.  When she decides she's done with yogurt, I don't know what we're going to do.


I finally found a description of what I'm sure is an accurate depiction of Baylee.  She's a problem feeder.

A Picky Eater A Problem Feeder

Decreased range or variety of foods. Will eat 30 different foods or more		Restricted range or variety of foods usually less than 20 different foods
Foods lost due to "burn out" because of a food jag are usually re-gained after a 2-week break		Foods lost due to food jags are not re-acquired
Able to tolerate new foods on plate and usually can touch or taste a new food (even if reluctantly)		Cries and "falls apart" when presented with a new food
Eats at least one food from most all food texture groups		Refuses entire categories of food textures
Will add new foods to repertoire in 15-25 steps		Adds new foods in more than 25 steps

According to studies, problem feeders will often need extensive therapy from a multi-disciplinary feeding team (occupational therapist, speech therapist, nutritionist, psychologist/behavioralist, physician) of which the parents are an integral part, in order to overcome their feeding problems.  Studies have shown that treatment success and gains at home were largely due to parental compliance in implementing and following through with clinicians suggestions and protocols for treatment (Kennedy Krieger Institute).
I made a phone call to our insurance company today & a nutritionist & child psychiatrist are covered.  I was hoping a food therapist would be covered, but they said to get some names from our ped. & maybe a different billing code could/would cover the cost.  If the cost isn't covered, I'm going to have to convince Mike that Baylee has a problem (he just thinks she's stubborn & strong willed) & we have to pay out of pocket to resolve this.

More photos

Baylee & her friend C playing at the park & holding hands. Of course, she's leading him.

Baylee saying "cheese" for the camera & hamming it up.

Pics of the Girls

I just realized I haven't posted any recent pictures of the girls. Here you go!

Livy is modeling one of my recent bow creations. It was hard getting these pics because she wanted to bounce & move.

This was at a recent playdate with Baylee's favorite friend, J. She wanted to push him in the swing.

Here's Baylee with one of her ECFE friends, C. C told his mom that he wants to marry Baylee. :)

Just When I Thought Things Couldn't Get Worse...

Baylee woke up at 4:30am today & tried to break free from her room.  She has never woken up that early before in her life without going back to sleep & waking up at a reasonable hour.  She has wanted the light on at night lately too.  Needless to say, after getting up with Livy for a feeding at 2/2:30am, I was not a very happy camper.  I pretty much yelled at her that she was going back to sleep until a reasonable hour.  When Mike went to check on her at 6:30, she demanded a "princess dress" to wear instead of her jammies.

I took the girls out for a park playdate at 10am.  I was completely exhausted because I couldn't fall back asleep after hearing Baylee at 4:30, but I knew we would go crazy staying inside all day too.  Baylee started to throw down around 11:30, so we took off so I could scope out some parks for a family picnic on Saturday.  Baylee crashed in the car & I successfully transferred her to the crib for an afternoon nap.

Unfortunately, things did not get better after naptime.  For some reason, Baylee HATES bath time.  I don't know if she's afraid of the drain (I hear some kids are afraid of getting sucked down), does not like getting her hair wet, etc., but I had to wrestle her into the bathtub screaming, flailing, & kicking.  She screamed so hard that she scared Livy who started to cry too.  Sigh...

Because B got up so early, I tried putting her down at 7:45.  She fought her bedtime until 10:45.  The entire time she screamed, tried to open the door, cried, etc.  I have no clue what her deal is lately, but my friend S (J's mom) suggested I talk to the pediatrician.  Mike doesn't think there's anything wrong with Baylee, but she might not be able to tell us.  For all we know, she could be having nightmares, have tummy aches, headaches, toothaches, be afraid of the dark, & so forth, but she doesn't have the words to express those feelings.  If anything, I just want a ped. to provide some sort of guidance so I don't go crazy.

On the positive, Livy is a mover & a shaker!  Baby girl is crawling!  Not very fast or very consistently, but she gets up on her hands & knees & goes hand, knee, hand, knee.  If she falls flat on her stomach, she gets back up & sits & scoots.

UGH!

I guess they don't call them the terrible two's for nothing!


Like I mentioned before, Baylee has been refusing to nap & go to bed at an appropriate time.  Last night, she fussed & fought with us until 10pm.   We put her down at 8pm, but she cried & cried so I went in to check on her.  I asked her if she was afraid of the dark because she flipped on the lights, but I got no response.  Then, I asked if she had a bad dream, which she replied affirmatively.  Not sure if she really did or not, but I laid next to her for a little while.  When I was sure she was tired & would fall asleep, I gave her kiss & asked her if she wanted the lights on or off.  No answer, so I flipped them off & left.


This wasn't the end.  A little bit later we hear her trying to break down the door again.  Mike went to check on her.  She ripped off her diaper & peed on her toddler bed, so we had to put her in the crib.  I'm not sure if she has suddenly developed a fear of the dark or not, but I'm hoping it is short-lived.  B was such a good sleeper!  I need those old days to come back.


Since Baylee didn't really nap or sleep well yesterday, I thought surely she would be exhausted at nap time.  NOPE.  No such luck.  She got out of her room by 2:30 today.  I decide we should make a quick run to Target to get chicken nuggets (one of very few foods she eats) & some chicken so I can make dinner).  When we get there, I decided to get a cup of coffee at the Starbucks.  I was tired & could use the caffeine jolt.  Clearly I wasn't thinking straight.  Baylee spotted a juice box & wanted it.  I would not cave in-it was a $1 juice box-but told her I would get her some juice down in the juice aisle if she sat in the cart.

As I left the Starbucks counter, Baylee proceeds to scream & starts climbing out of the shopping cart.  By the time we get to the juice aisle she is screaming & chasing me.  I get her a juice box, but tell her she has to sit in the cart.  She throws down.  "NOOOOOOO!!!!!"  I hold firm--no juice unless you sit in the cart.  More screaming.  I put the juice box in the cart & start to walk down the aisles to get the chicken nuggets & chicken.  Baylee tries to grab the juice from the cart, but I snatch it away from her telling her that she has to sit in the cart.  More screaming "NOOOOOOO."  As I walk away she grabs the juice.  I start to put her in the cart, but she screams again & starts to climb out.  I wrestle the juice from her & she screams again.  By this point everyone is staring at us.  I'm sure I provided a very valuable birth control lesson.

I finally get the items I need & Baylee has decided to sit in the cart & drink what is left of her juice.  As we head to the express checkout, she hands me the juice & says "All done," & starts grabbing another one.  I tell her no because her juice box isn't empty.  Another throwdown begins until she spots the Holy Trinity of Princesses in the checkout line.  Her grubby little paws snatch up Ariel, Belle, & Cinderella.  After her little tirade, I was definitely NOT going to buy her Disney princesses.  Before we leave, I took the princesses away & the scream fest begins again.  At this point, I have no hope of trying to push a cart & wrestling Baylee out at the same time.  I put Livy in the shopping cart seat (of course I have the shopping cart with the broken seat strap) & snap Baylee into the Ergo.  B thrashes & screams the entire time to the car & flails as I strap her into the carseat.

Toddler: 1

Mom: -1

After all that, I am ordering take out tonight.  I have no energy to cook.

A Very Trying Week...

Baylee has been refusing to nap this week.  She figured out how to climb out of her crib & runs to the door & tries to get out, but can't since we have childproofed the door.  I have left toys in her room & have tried to explain to her that she doesn't need to sleep, but she has to play quietly in her room.  Not getting through.  I need the 2 hours to catch up on housework & just relax.  I'm not sure what to do except keep her there & hope that she either passes out from exhaustion or just learns to play in her room.  I'm at my wits end.

Livy, on the other hand, is growing up way too fast!  She so wants to crawl & is always on her hands & knees rocking trying to grab objects.  I didn't need to babyproof with Baylee, but I'm thinking Livy is going to get into EVERYTHING.  Poor girl has been super fussy this week, so I think her upper teeth are coming in.

Pool Time Fun!

We're going through another heat wave here.  Mike is DYING for the fall.  It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so humid.  To beat the heat, we've been going to pool a lot.  Since we now have a LifeTime family membership, I go to either the Maple Grove or Plymouth locations depending on what time I can schedule Livy for day care.  I just can't handle both girls at the pool at this age.  Next year, I'm sure it will be fine.

This morning, we met up with our friends J & C.  We haven't seen C & his mom in FOREVER!  They have been traveling fiends.  In July, they went to Spain & they just got back from a visit to California & Hawaii.  C's mommy is one brave woman.  Oh, & to show what a small world it is, C's dad now works at Mike's company too, so we've been meaning to surprise the dads at work during lunch time.  Soon hopefully.

Anyway, Baylee & J jumped & splashed like crazy as C darted off stealing everyone's shoes.  It was a fun morning even though I got called to pick-up Livy.  Poor girl is starting to have some separation anxiety.  Baylee must have worn herself out because she passed out on the drive home.  We're planning on meeting Mike after work at Medicine Lake for some beach time &/or playground time.

On another note, Livy is just dying to crawl or at least move.  She is rocking on her hands & knees all the time & when her little arms give out, she goes flat on her tummy, which she HATES.  I've never seen a child dislike tummy time so much, yet has to sleep on her tummy?  Such an odd little quirk.

Princess Baylee

I had intended to give this tutu to Baylee's cousin Nina as a birthday present, but Baylee saw it & just had to wear it. Guess this means I'm going to have to make another one for Nina! Now, Little Miss Diva has been referring to herself as "Princess B" & "Princess Cute." Sigh...

Fun in the Sun

After a few rainy weeks we've finally had a stretch of nice sunny days.  We've taken advantage of these days by going to the parks & playing outdoors.  Last Wednesday, Baylee & Livy's cousin N came over to play.  N is getting so big!  I bet by the time the girls are 3, N will be much taller than Baylee.  N is so adorable & I'm glad the girls will get to be cabin buddies.

We also celebrated J's 2nd birthday last week.  Baylee took a few bites of pizza!  J & Baylee are very cute together.  Baylee talks about J all the time & they seem to gravitate towards one another in groups.  We saw them over the weekend too at LifeTime.  We walked in & J looked all said in daycare until he saw us come in.  Baylee was ready to throw down until I told her J was there, then she was very excited.

Livy's been eating solids like a champ.  Every morning she gets a fruit/cereal blend & at night she eats a yogurt.  This has been so different from Baylee who didn't eat solids at all.  Livy has finally figured out her jumperoo too!  I put her in a baby swing this morning & she loved that too.  I can't believe how quickly she's growing.

Mike's been working long hours the past few weeks.  His forecast is due so it's been very busy for him.  I've been trying to make a new bow style every evening.  I sold my first set this morning at a playdate, so hopefully I will generate some traffic soon & sell more.  :P