My toddler

In case I haven't been clear in previous posts....toddlers can be so tough. I mean really tough.  My daughter has been a handful....in the beginning she just whined a lot. Now, in addition to the whining there are temper tantrums, throwing everything she can get her hands on, hitting phases, and now....dum dum dum.....NOT LISTENING AT ALL!  I mean to almost anything.

Maybe I was spoiled earlier on in that I didn't realize how well she listened when I asked her to do something.
Example: "Baby, come here let's put on your shoes."  Over she would walk and we would put on her shoes.

Example Now: "Baby, come here let's put on your shoes."  Blank stare.  "Baby, it's time to go, let's put on your shoes." Rolls over says no. "BAby...C'mon...we have to go." Silence.  "If you don't get over here by the count of 3 I'm going to come get you" Blank stare, half smile. "1-2-3". No movement.  "Alright I've had it, get over here and get your shoes on NOW".
Because of this newfound selective hearing, it seems to take forever to do anything these days....put her pajamas on, put her shoes on, change clothes, get in the bathtub, get in the car and in her seat, back in the house after playtime.....Oh.Em. Gee.
I also haven't found anything that has worked to get her to listen better. I've explained that she needs to listen, tried to tell her it upsets mama, I've raised my voice.....the only thing that has a mild effect is now I use the "Go to your room". She will go, but even that doesn't do much to stop it further.
I am hopeful this is something she will outgrow....and soon.

I've been carrying around a piece of paper of all the little things she's been saying or doing over last few months. I've had to capture things 'old school' since it takes awhile for me to actually log in and type it all out! Anyway.....
--the other night at dinner she was trying to get a peach on her fork. She kept trying and trying and couldn't do it.....she was so intent and says..."C'MON peach..."  It was just cute.
--she loves to go outside. She will come grab my hand, pull me, and say "Wet's go mommy, wet's go".
--When she is whining, crying, or otherwise upset I'll tell her to calm down.  She says "OK, trying".
--She still isn't the best sleeper. Getting her to sleep can sometimes be rough. After I've put her down and she can't settle down she will call out for me.  It starts by her saying "mommy" (low voice). If I don't answer she gets progressively louder. "Mah-may." "MAH-may." " MAAAAH-MAAAAAY!."  One night I just yelled out drink your bottle. She simply said OK, and went back to sleep!  On another night night I went to her crib and I told her to stop yelling. She said ok. I went out to the living room and I hear her little voice say quite calmly and clearly  "Come here please".
--She runs down the sidewalk and yells...."I'm runnang! I'm runnaaaaaang!"
--She loves to drink whatever anyone else has.  She will walk over, put her finger to her mouth, tap on it and say "one sip, one sip".
--She knows her alphabet letters and all her colors.
--When the baby sneezes she says "Bless you Baby".
--She is pretty good about saying thank you.  It's so funny to hear this little voice say, "tank you mommy" after giving her a popsicle.
--At night and in the morning she typically sits on my lap in the rocker.  I think we both enjoy this time because she asks regularly for "rocker" "snuggle wuggle".
--She was watching a show where she was learning letters and one day they said 'saddle'. For some reason she loved that word because right in the middle of saying her letters she'll say, A....B....F....SADDLE!
--In the morning she sometimes soaks through her jammies. We call this super-soaked. If that happens, when I come in to get her she says supsoak tu-tub. She's supersoaked and wants a bath. I take her out and hold her at arms length through to the bathroom door and she holds her leg out behind her to kick open the door almost every time.
--If she leaves the room for awhile I'll call for her and ask her what she's doing. I hear her yell out.."I'm still pooping."  Sometimes she'll come to me and say 'hard one'.
--My heart melted the other day when on her own she came up, sat on my lap, gave me a hug, and said "I wuv you mommy, I wuv you". Oh my word did my heart swell on that one.
--The only kind of discipline that semi-works is for me to tell her to go to her room.  It's kind of hilarious......she runs to her room, yells out WAH, WAH twice. Says I all done, and comes back out.
If only it stayed that simple.
--When she's done something she thinks is naughty she says "Oh Honeeeey". I couldn't figure out why she kept saying that until I realized that's what I say to her when I find her doing something--like tearing up a favorite book. I would walk over and say "Oh honey, what did you do?".

I still haven't figured out what to do about her diet. She is not adventurous and doesn't like to try new things. She likes her mac/cheese, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, eggs. What I try to do is at least give her turkey dogs, non-fried chicken nuggets, organic mac and cheese......but still. I know it's a toddler thing, but it's just so difficult to add something new to the mix. If it doesn't come out of a box and is pre-made, she just doesn't seem to want it.  At least she will eat some vegetables--cucumber, green beans, broccoli, carrots and many different fruits.  Ironically, one of her favorite things to eat is the 'fruit' snacks.

Oh my girl...it's during these times I would love to ask my mom if I was like this as a child. I suspect so...always pushing boundaries, into everything, exploring all the time, on the go until put to bed, interested in books....oh wait, back to constantly testing limits!
She may be a handful but she is also very sweet, charming, and can be pretty darn funny at times.....we've been sharing more 'moments' of laughing together and her communication is getting more detailed all the time. She is stringing sentences together, bringing up things she remembered from the day. It's interesting to hear the things that pop out of her mouth i..e what she's thinking about. Sometimes at night when I go to her room after she calls out, she'll just start talking....it's almost like we are having a conversation because she seems very serious/intent on telling me what's on her mind. I secretly enjoy this even though I am usually in there to tell her to go/back to sleep.

We are getting ready for Christmas. Most of my shopping done and house has been decorated for awhile. My sister is coming into town and unfortunately she's had a bah-humbug attitude so I hope she can turn it around. I've been thinking about how I am going to handle it because frankly I don't want her to bring me down. I'd love to have a nice, joyful holiday w/ positive energy. Don't think that's too much to ask. If it gets to be too much I may just call her on the carpet and tell her to get it together. It still bothers me that I am thinking this way because I just wish I could depend on her showing up and we have fun together. I have found w/ the last few trips that we just don't laugh much. I can only hope for the best and be sure that me and the kids have a great one no matter what.