day off rainy tuesday

Tried to go to the flea market this morning but it was cold and threatening to rain. Came home and cleaned half the kitchen - made Esme a pair of shorts.. lots more to do in the house. Go make a pot of coffee and see what comes next.

Esme is scribbling on her easel. She was a brat at the flea market screaming whenever we had to leave some animal cages and because she couldn't get a ride in somebody's pull-cart they had brought to put things in etc... Since we've been home she has been pretty good, eating soup with a spoon, watching some Shaun and getting her own crayon box while I'm sewing.

Use your Words

More and more lately and ALL NIGHT tonight Esme has been having screaming fests at me because she wants something and won't tell me clearly what it is - trying to drag or force me to do something using gestures and pulling on me and won't even stop screaming to listen to me. She also wants to hit me in the high points of these to make me do what she wants -- and I'm NOT letting her get the idea that is OK. Often we just put her to bed when she gets like this - but it hasn't been fixing the cause of the issue - her not communicating what she wants.

Tonight I took her down in my lap when she was getting into one of these tantrums and held her there screaming her head off until she quieted down some - then told her I wanted her to use her words and tell me what she wanted - like if she wanted the ball (which she motioned at halfway through as a 'let me out of this' distraction technique) she should say she wants the ball - 'ball, I want the ball - you have to tell Mom this, no AAHWHWHW (mimic whining cry) say 'ball' - you say ball' etc... and then I let her go. She was happy to just be 'free' again and talked to me a lot about the ball - blue ball etc etc... and then she wanted to hug me, but was afraid I'd hold on to her again - so I asked 'hug?' and she beamed -- came and hugged me and then grabbed the ball again. She said 'hug' twice more and hugged me. Then we had a discussion about going upstairs, yea?, see daddy and sit in our night-night watch Shaun the Sheep? She didn't want to go upstairs at first, and then she thought about it - and asked 'baa?' I said 'yes if you sit in your night-night (bed) you can watch Shaun the Sheep, but we have to go upstairs for that - are you ready to go upstairs?' etc etc... using MY words - and she came sat in my lap and said 'baa' - so yes she wanted to go upstairs. Upstairs I asked Daddy to put on the movie and she was extremely good - I put her in her pajamas with hardly any complaint, put her in her bed and she didn't start screaming immediately etc etc.. she just sat and watched Shaun and then was asleep in about fifteen minutes.

It sounds like she took the 'use your words' session to heart - and I hope I don't have to do another one tomorrow -- but ignoring the crying isn't working - putting her to bed is only a temporary fix and I'd like to have have a night now and then I'm not screamed at (every minute I'm not catering to her) from the moment I come home until she is asleep -- they're getting rare lately and I have to turn that around!

meep

cleaned the kitchen some, the bathtub some - did most of the laundry, cleaned Esme's toy area (throwing out some ratty stuff and torn magazines) and swept two areas of the floor... there is a lot more that needs to be done but if I take it a piece at a time it doesn't start me into a cleaning tornado of the dangerous kind. I can make myself pretty upset just by cleaning.. something to do with my mother and learned behavior. Anyway - feel accomplished for the bit I got done and now if Esme isn't too covered in ketchup from her fish sticks I'll bring her to see Grandma, otherwise it's bathtime. Yesterday she fell asleep at three, and seeing we had a town run for the houseplant materials and chicken, we didn't get up there at all. If she crashes for a nap today maybe I'll get something done in sewing - maybe not...

I read an article on Fark about hoarding issues and WOW. That spurred some more of my cleaning efforts today. Several members of my family up north have issues with hoarding useless but supposedly 'valuable' possessions, to the point of being unable to live normally. I have an uncle who can't even walk through his house it's that bad. My mom is getting worse in her elder years - but I think that's mostly to do with her being sick a lot and not being able to remember where she puts anything anyway etc... She hates to wear her glasses, and I know she uses that as a partial excuse for not going through anything. I'd hate to ever get that way. A few years ago my ideal living space was nearly barren - with everything put away or thrown away. That isn't possible with a kid much less with an Ebay store or sewing workshop. HA. Well I can at least try to throw out what isn't easily useful and stack what is in an organized fashion. Hopefully a lot of it can be yard sale fodder sometime - if there is any time - that I am off work long enough to do it.

Sheep Zombies, cheetos and houseplants

My big project today was to re-pot the houseplant on the left (Shefflera, umbrella plant). I got it when I started working again and by now it was in a much-too-small pot nearly the same size as the ivy next to it. It also has some yellowed leaves from low light - so I tried to give it a better spot this time. Esme loves to go to the greenhouse and I love to watch her explore there - so we went and scoped out what they had. This time of year it wasn't much. But I did buy the white pot there and went on to the big box store to get the platter under it and a new Shaun the Sheep disc that was there. That makes three discs Esme can switch off on so we don't get so sick of them. She also watches the Wallace and Gromits and any other stop-motion cartoons we have, but none except Shaun turn her into a 'zombie'

Sheep zombie in action.. err.. inaction.



She just stands there and watches until each episode is done - takes a turn about the room and as soon as the next starts she's in the same place. Scary! The sheep zombies are upon us!

And cheetos. Here she is making a big deal out of 'mmmm' cheeto. Between this and fried chicken today she's had enough junk food to last a week!




Note: I've had that ivy ever since Fargo - way back Fargo, in college. I rescued it from Hornbacher's grocery store's clearance rack for 3.99 when it was about 5 inches square or less. It looked lonely as I waited in line for the bank window there -- and it came home with me. This is a clipping, not the original plant - I lost that one and it is presumed dead. Everybody I have given clippings off of it has killed them - except this one I gave Mark long ago. He still had it sitting in a jar when I moved in here and it has been vigorous ever since. I'm thinking of making another cutting off of it to put in our upstairs here.

funny things toddlers do

Tonight Esme is running around the room wearing her 'RAR' dinosaur shirt and making good use of it - saying 'RAR' everywhere. She also has a three-eyed alien rubber finger puppet someone sent me in the mail long ago - and is saying RAR with that. The poor dogs are getting run over and around and bounced near etc... she is pushing the cat tent around and wiping her brow like 'this is so much work!' Grandma thinks she got that out of the Shaun the Sheep cartoon - it's likely! She is also tossing a block over her shoulder and then turning around to see where it lands - did that about eight times tonight. That is the block she kept losing when she shook her big jar the other day - and entirely lost it for a while. Guess she's trying to recreate the scene? Mark says she might be imitating the Swedish Chef on Muppets because he always throws everything behind him when he's done with his song.

A few minutes ago she holds up a cup of apple juice I don't recognize from 'today' and makes her 'slurpie' sound and says 'mm'? I ask her 'That's not the cup you just had - where did you get that? Is that current?' and she looks at it and very coyly asks 'EWW?' I say yes 'EWW' let's go find your current cup and fill it up with juice.

This morning Esme picked up the word 'pants' again and repeated after me 'I want pie' - both word/phrases are in her Jimmy Neutron cartoon 'When Pants Attack' I forget exactly how the conversation went - something about 'p' words, pizza, pie, puppies (to which she said doggies) but when she repeated 'I want pie' I told her 'You don't even know what pie is!' haha

Last night it was raining and I ran out to check the truck windows. Esme saw me come in and wanted to go out so badly -- I told her 'wet out there!' and wiped water from my arm on her arm. She said 'EWWWW' and then I opened the door and let her see the rain was coming down. She started repeating 'wet ahsite - wet wet wet ahsite!' and continued for about five minutes. During the movie 'Aliens vs. Monsters' we rented and watched last night she dove down and hid by the bed when everyone was screaming and crying on the breaking bridge. After the 'scary' part was done she stood up and asked 'ow?' and looked at the screen -- I told her everyone was alright and then she got back on the bed and watched more with us. She loved Insectosaurus and said 'RAR' whenever she saw it.

It's amazing to see all the thoughts going on in her head lately and try to figure out where they are all coming from and how they are coming together.

Thursday morning

I have to be at work in an hour - have had a lazy day and a half off of work - and a turnaround shift tonight (close and then back twelve hours later).

Esme has been cute this morning, asking me to draw sheep on her easel and showing me a few new words of hers 'pants' being the one I am happiest about. She loves to tell me her cup is 'empty' now and everything else she can think of, like the clothes hamper, my coffee cup, a bucket etc... I got drug by my pants across the house, up the stairs and across the upstairs in order to give her a diaper change. I'll be glad when she starts using words for things like that!

I've got one dress entirely finished except for noticed a problem with the skirt :( Have to take it back off and try it again.

Mark went to town while I did laundry and gave Esme her applesauce and bread. She loves applesauce or yogurt with a piece of bread and a drink in between her breakfast and lunch. Especially because she doesn't eat as much breakfast as she used to - just a quick bite with some milk and she's off running until snacktime!

Now it's time to get dressed for work while Mark makes pizza for Esme and him. He said I gave her a bath and got her all clean and now he is going to get pizza everywhere so I have to give her another bath tonight when I get home (hehe) - if she's awake!