Friday, October 24, 2014

Cookies in the Rain.

















I have been trying to come up with ideas for indoor activities as I eye the impending winter season with shivers of dread.  Last year there was so much snow I sometimes went days not going outside.  And now I have an almost two and a half year old that is constantly looking to me for the NEXT GREAT IDEA.  Who knew being someone's playmate could be so tiring.

As a practice run, we were hit by a two day epic rainstorm that kept us huddled inside.  We made this dollar store craft.  Clara chose the jaunty angle of the buckle on the Cat Witch's hat...


















And that was thirty minutes well spent...

So I decided to try cooking with Clara for the first time.  We got the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies and settled down on the floor of the living room.

Stirring the dough.
Measuring the baking soda.
Measuring the salt.

 It went pretty well.  Clara stirred for a while and then realized how good the dough tasted and just wanted to eat it.  She measured out a teaspoon of baking soda and got a cup more on the floor.  Ditto with the salt. 

 She liked portioning out the cookies on the baking sheets but kept sneaking huge blobs into her mouth when she thought I wasn't looking. 

Note the lonely, unused potty under the chair.


Sneaking a blob of dough. 

I was multitasking at the time, doing laundry downstairs, so we popped the cookies in the oven and ran down to put everything in the dryer.  When we came back up Clara loved looking at the cookies in the oven and wanted to take them out immediately.  

 
We took them out, let them cool, and then had a tasting together.  By together, I mean theat Clara tasted the cookies and thought they were delicious.  When I tried to sample one she swatted my hand away and said: "No Mama.  These are mines."


The process start to finish including going to the grocery store took a little over an hour.  (Not including the hour of cleanup I had after the cookie bomb went off in the living room)  Next time I'll make sure Clara helps with the cleanup but this time - she really loved making cookies.




Sunday, October 19, 2014

Conversations with Clara. Episode Five.

Clara is closing in on being two and a half years old, she's not quite there yet but when you ask her how old she is she answers: "Two and a half!", or occasionally "I'm three!"

She also has a few new sayings, go-to expressions if you will.

ME: Clara, would you like to put your shoes on?
CLARA: I don't care. 

ME: Clara, I have to strap you into the stroller so you don't fall out.
CLARA: Mama, leave me alone. Don't touch me!

or:

ME: Clara, want to see what's in this piece of  junk mail we just got out of the mailbox?
CLARA: Oh YES!  I'M SO EXCITED!

and periodically throughout the day, apropos of nothing...

CLARA: It's nice to see you, Mama. 
and
CLARA: My hair is beautiful.


A few days ago my friend Travis came over with his 2 daughters - Charlie(2 and a half) and Sylvie (one month).  Later that day, long after they left, Clara and I were chatting about the playdate.

ME: Clara, did you have a nice time with Charlie?
CLARA: Yeah!
ME:  Do you remember the baby's name?
CLARA: Sylvie!
ME: Do you remember the dad's name?
CLARA: (looking at me askance) Gerald.
ME: (laughs out loud)  Well that's true.

a few minutes later, as I was changing Clara...

CLARA: (smiles at me) Gerald.  (beat.) I'm so funny, Mama.

I love conversing with two year olds.

Clara, about to suggest a tea party.



Saturday, October 04, 2014

Potty Training...Woe is me.

I will preface this by saying that until last week happened, I had decided that I was the Kung Fu Kickass Potty Training Mom of All Time Ever in the History of the World.  That would be my new title and other moms would come to me with their potty training troubles and I would console them and offer them my expert advice.

Let's rewind to better times...a week and a half ago to be exact. Back in those halcyon days where Clara told me whenever she had to pee or poop.  Where she happily sat on toilets with toddler rings, pottys, other people's toilets, and (when outdoors) her travel potty.  I had fond (if slightly embarassing) memories of sitting with Clara on a park bench, chatting as she counted flower petals into my hand while simultaneously pooping into her travel potty.  Where Clara's piping cries of "I Pooped!" I DID IT!" were  followed by high-fives all around and our patented Pee-Pee Dance.  Where Clara miraculously and unexpectedly was sleeping through the night without wetting her overnight diaper.  Where Clara wore cute Doc McStuffins underpants.  These golden days lasted for exactly one month.

Suddenly, and without warning, the poop and pee started hitting the fan.  "Mama, I have to poop" was replaced by "Mama, I pooped on couch."  "Mama, I pooped on floor." or most ominously: "Mama, I pooped on Mama."  I scrambled for a few days - insisting that this was just  a setback as Clara peed everywhere - through her underpants and clothes - onto everything.  Let me tell you - there is no worse cleanup than getting a fully dressed toddler out of underpants that have been pooped in.  It goes everywhere  - all over them and sadly, all over you.

So I relented and started putting Clara in Pull-Ups all day long.  I couldn't take it anymore.  And then the announcements stopped.  Forget about telling me anything.  The Poop Conversation was over. I was catapulted back  to the Dark Ages where poops were only announced by the stink wafting out of the diaper.

It's been  a week and a half.  Clara will try the potty after putting up a struggle but most of the time I pull down her pants to find that her business is already complete. 

I am hoping that this is just a setback.  That the novelty of "doing it right" has worn off and Clara simply needs a little break.   Or maybe she needs to work poop and pee-pee into her comedy act.   Like yesterday, when a routine game of Ring Around the Rosie ended abruptly when Clara announced: "I don't want to fall down, I pooped in my pants!"
 

I am resigned to waiting as long as I have to reclaim the title of Kung Fu Kickass Potty Training Mom of All Time Ever in the History of the World, or maybe I am just waiting for the time when I can go one full day without discussing another person's bodily functions.

Seriously, Clara...throw you Mama a bone here.

Reading a Potty Training Book at the Library. Very funny, Clara.