The Joys of Toddler-dom: Toddling!

Now that I have posted a few times about the perils or toddler-dom, I think it's only right that I post about some joys. Yes, toddlers are challenging and well, irritating sometimes, but they are also great for hugs and laughter. It seems like Monica went from infant to toddler overnight. I think the change really happened when she started walking. The toddling ability opened up a whole new world of possiblities, discoveries, and mischief.

I love that Monica can grip my finger in her fist as she walks next to me, and I love that she can run toward me for a big hug, and throw her arms around my neck. I'm not the biggest fan of the running away, but it comes with a territory. Now that Monica can really walk, she loves to play hide and seek (which is really easy since hiding around the corner brings peals of laughter) and just explore the outdoors, picking things up and saying "See! See!"



Yes, some things about life were logistically easier when Monica wasn't totally mobile, but this new milestone means more exploration, learning, and development, which is just what childhood is all about. Here's to you, Toddler!

The Perils of Toddler-dom: Infectious Diseases

In Monica's first year of life, she had one cold. Granted, she had her share of gastrointestinal stress and diaper rash, but infectious diseases were nearly nil. She even bypassed a case of hand-foot-mouth after an entire weekend of exposure. I was sure that I have a child with bionic immunity.

Was I ever wrong.

Not that Monica is constantly sick, or anything. She really is relatively healthy. It's just that she's now a toddler...who can toddle at the speed of light and put her mouth on anything she can get her hands on, which is everything 24 inches or less from the ground.

In the past 2+ months, she got a cold, which lasted for three weeks and resulted in an ear infection, three episodes of nasty cold sores (which we thought were impetigo for a while!), and roseola (which she passed on to some friends' kiddos. Sorry Erin!!!).

The Perils of Toddler-dom: Shoulda Seen That One Coming Part 2

Before you read this post, be sure you've read this one.

While I was glad to have Kevin home and not be alone anymore, I was not all that encouraged by the 3 Iron. Kevin tried to get it under the door in hopes of pushing the drawer closed, but the clearance between the bottom of the door and the threshold can't be more than two centimeters. So that idea was out. We decided to shine a flashlight under the door and saw Monica facedown on the floor screaming hysterically. As much as we tried to get her to close the drawer, I guess she wasn't in the place to follow any direction.

A few minutes later, we heard the firetruck pull up to the house and two firemen came to the door with a bag of tools. They also tried asking Monica to close the drawer, which was just as ineffective as before. At that point, I was pretty sure they were going to have to cut the door in some way. Before getting out the saw, they hauled out the crow bar to remove the door knob. After the door knob was off, we turned on the light and saw that it wasn't the bottom drawer that was open but the middle drawer, so there was no way that we could have been able to shove anything over the door to close the drawer. The middle drawer was open all the way so after a few hard shoves, the drawer popped out and the door finally opened, with Monica still facedown on the floor in hysterics.

I picked her up and held her close while the firemen packed up their gear. After a few hugs, she started to calm down. Other than being exhausted from the crying, she was fine. If you're in a situtation to call 911, I guess this was the situation to be in. All of Monica's teeth and limbs are in place and accounted for and no caustic chemicals were consumed. Thank God the situation wasn't more dangerous. I think we'll be taking potential hazards more seriously so they don't become more 911 calls in the future!

The Perils of Toddler-dom: Shoulda Seen That One Coming

Like most toddlers, Monica likes to pull open drawers and toss their contents about the room. During one of these episodes in the bathroom, Kevin remarked how if Monica went into the bathroom, closed the door and opened the drawer to ransack it, we wouldn't be able to get her out. "Hmmm," we thought. "We'll have to keep that in mind."

This afternoon, I was folding laundry and the house seemed all too quiet. I went looking for Monica and heard noises from the bathroom, which was dark and closed off. I called for Monica and tried to open the door, but it was blocked. Monica shut herself in the bathroom and I could not, for the life of me, get her out. She had fulfilled Kevin's prophecy. She had closed the door and opened the drawer to ransack it leaving me shut out of the bathroom and leaving her stuck in the dark screaming like a banshee.

She's at the point where she will sometimes follow simple directions like, "Get the ball," or "Shut the door." For a couple minutes I tried asking her to shut the drawer, but she just screamed and cried. It was dark in there and I'm sure she was scared. That's when I started to get scared. What if she was hurt? What if she got something in the drawer (lotion, soap, medication) and had eaten it? I called Kevin who suggested bending a coat hanger and putting it under the door to try and push the offending drawer closed. That didn't work and I started my own set of hysterics, so Kevin decided to drive home from work.

In the meantime, I called 911. A few minutes later, Kevin flew in the driveway, grabbed a 3 Iron from his golf bag and charged in the house.

To Be Continued...

Funny Find

For those of you more clued in to blogosphere happenings, I may seem a bit slow. However, I had to pass on the info for Cake Wrecks. It's a really funny blog showcasing seriously ridiculous, strange, and hilarious professional cakes. Worth the surf.

Dudes' Weekend

Kevin went up north with some friends for the weekend, and I flew solo with Monica. While I was reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? about 50 times (I swear that is no exaggeration), Kevin was participating in the following activity:

Incendio!

(Caption for Harry Potter nerds only!)

If you want to read more about what is happening in that pic, check out this blog post. If you want to know why you shouldn't go near the dumpster, you'll have to ask Kevin personally.