Trying my patience

Oh, the terrible twos. I didn't realize they could start as soon as 18 months until I started doing some research. Now we're at 21 months and we're going strong. Of course, Audrey saves her worst behavior for me. Yay.

She had her first time out on Tuesday. I've been reading The Happiest Toddler on the Block, so I followed those guidelines. Reason for time-out? Absolutely refusing to let me change her poopy diaper. So I took her, diaper-less, to her room for a two-minute time out. I wasn't even able to clean everything up before I put her in there, but I didn't care. Surprising, given my germaphobic tendencies.

I'm totally over this struggle with diaper changing. A couple of weeks ago, I strained a muscle in my back, and I'm convinced this is the reason. She completely turns over on the changing table and starts to stand up, and the child is strong! She laughs and thinks it's a game, but, needless to say, I'm not amused. Not when poop is involved.

Her second time out was yesterday. The reason? Same as before. Once again, she was in her room diaper-less. Aaaaaaarrrrgggghhhhh. The good thing is that, after the punishment, she calms down and lets me change her.

On a bright note, I was able to bathe her again yesterday. I'm trying not to focus on the fact that I was down for the count for the rest of the day, though.



And last night before bed, she came to me for a hug and a kiss, not the other way around. What a sweetie.

Good news!

I went back to see my homeopathic doctor last Thursday, to see how I'm doing and if any supplements needed to be changed. I also got back a couple of "foods"...COFFEE, DARK CHOCOLATE, and stevia. I was so excited!

When we got home, David made some coffee for me. I couldn't use my normal creamer because of dietary restrictions, so the coffee was...not so good. I was so disappointed. I've been waiting for two months to get it back. Yesterday, though, I made some more and added lots of milk, and it was yummy. I'm trying to be thankful, even though I'm still banned from the wonderful fall coffee concoctions at Starbucks. We're at Target every week, and the signs at Starbucks mock me. But I will be strong.

I was also excited about getting dark chocolate back, but curiously, I haven't had any as of yet. I'm allowed to have one small piece every day, and truthfully, I'm afraid to try it. I think I'm going to go nuts and eat every last one in the bag, because dark chocolate is one of my favorite things.

During this detox, I think my taste buds have changed somewhat. Like I said, my second try at coffee was successful, but I have to say, I'm still loving the green tea. In fact, I just finished my second cup and I haven't had any coffee yet. Weird.

As far as the rest of the appointment, Dr. P says I'm right on schedule for where I should be. We got to see my blood again, and you could see the fungus and yeast die-off in my blood. It was disgusting. I guess I was thinking that the stuff would die off and be eliminated almost immediately. Yep, I was very wrong about that. Since I've had these problems for so many years, it's going to take a while for it to go away. We did see some healthy new red blood cells, which have a kind of halo around them. Very encouraging.

I was a little bummed because I thought my detox would be over, that I'd now be taking supplements that are supposed to "build me up". Though it's true that I'm taking a couple of things for that purpose, I'm still very much in the detox phase. And I'm still in lots of pain sometimes.

However, my blood and urine results are looking good, and things seem to be headed in the right direction. I even got a smiley-face sticker on my lab results (yes, this pleased the teacher in me:)

So I've got to be patient. Which is not, by the way, my strong suit.

Please make it stop

Monday was the worst day I've had with Audrey since she became a toddler. I don't even think I can describe it in words, but I'll try.

I didn't sleep too well Sunday night, which set me up for a bad mood on Monday. But Audrey seemed okay when she woke up, even though it was earlier than normal.

Since I was so tired, I let her watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse after breakfast, and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep during it. We've taken to watching usually one 24-minute show a day, MM or Handy Manny. After MM was over, she started asking for Handy Manny. I told her no, that we'd already watched our TV for the day.

I can't even tell you how many times she screamed "Handy Manny!" after that. Good grief. I didn't want to give in and let her think she could get what she wants by screaming. But I finally told her she could watch it after she took a nap.

I tried to put her down for a nap several times, but every time she said, "Nope, honey" and refused to sleep. She usually takes a nap about 4 hours after she wakes up; on Monday, however, she was awake from 7:00 until 2:30! And the more tired she got, the more she started falling and getting hurt, which led to more screaming. I was at my wit's end. At one point, I was on my knees next to her bed, praying for patience.

Finally, I just had to leave her in the room and close the door. She wasn't even in her bed. She must have screamed for at least 20 minutes, but the child needed her sleep! I had no choice.

And then yesterday, she did a 180 and took a 4 1/2 hour nap. I think her molars are coming in. God help us.

Sweet success

Ever since Audrey was born, I've wanted to give her a bath by myself. When she was tiny, I helped with a bath at the kitchen sink. But bending over a bathtub? Uh....no. My back will simply not allow it.

And it's always been so awful that I can't even bathe my own child. Talk about feeling useless. David has been doing it, just like he does everything else.

But last weekend, I had the idea of putting Audrey in the shower with me. I figured she could play with her toys at the far end of the tub and I could bathe her without breaking my back. And it worked!

I'm so pumped about this. It's such a small thing, but such an important thing that most other mothers take for granted.



Right after her shower with Mommy. I think she enjoyed it.

What I'm reading

So, I decided to read Breaking Dawn again, the last novel in the Twilight series. I know some people hate these books, so if that's the case, please stop reading for your own sake.

I've been a Twilight fan since before there was a movie. When I was teaching, my students had silent reading time every day (mandated by the school, but a good thing), and since I had 90 minutes with each class, it was easily doable.

Some students in my Honors English class were reading Twilight. Sometimes, I would walk the aisle during reading time to see what everyone was reading. I liked to be familiar with what they were reading.

I kept seeing this black book, with the enticing picture of white hands cradling an apple.



I picked the book up several times, but after reading that it was about vampires, I quickly put it down. I don't know what made me finally read it (I think it was because my students kept bugging me about it), but I was hooked from the beginning.

Well, I've read the first three books twice, but I've only reading Breaking Dawn once. I've started it several times, but for some reason, I've gotten bored with it. But now, with the movie coming out in November, I've had extra motivation to re-read it.

And I'm loving it! I could read it all day if I didn't have, you know, a life. There are so many things I've forgotten about the book, really important things. I can't wait for the movie. I've been trying to guess where the cut-off will be for the first installment. And I can't wait to see Bella transformed into a vampire...also, I'm interested to see how they're going to handle the filming of Renesme's rapid growth. This is supposedly a leaked picture of Bella as vampire.



I am stoked! When this movie comes out, David and I will definitely be having a date night. Grandparents be warned...babysitting is in your future!

Hard days

Since the last few days have been very trying (teething, I think), I'm going to list some of the adorable things Audrey's been doing this summer. I keep wanting to write about them, but I forget. So here we are:

1. I may have mentioned this before; I'm not sure. If so, you'll forgive me. I realized a few months ago that one of my favorite words must be "honey". When Audrey started saying it all the time, mimicking me, it was so cute. Lately, she's started saying "No", but not like I thought she would. She says, "Nope, honey."

"Do you want a nap now, Audrey?"
"Nope, honey."

I love it. Except now I'm teaching her to say "No ma'am". I do live in the South, you know. It's part of the code:)

2. Sometimes she'll ask me for a hug. She'll be sitting in her high chair, and she'll say, "Huggie". So I lean over to hug her, sticky fingers and all. How could I not?

3. She has to be wherever I am when I'm the only one at home. Yes, this can definitely have its negative points, for sure. But the other day, we got home and a friend of mine called. I lay down on my bed to talk, and Audrey pulled herself up and laid herself stomach-down right on top of me. She was hugging me and laughing.

4. We've taught her the "God is great" blessing to say before eating. If I forget to say it, she'll reach out her hand and say, "Blessing". And if anyone else is in the house, they have to come over and hold hands with her.

5. After she has a bath, we let her run around naked for a while, "airing her out", so to speak. She's started leaving on her hooded towel and running around the house, the towel flying out behind her like a superhero's cape.



6. She's started saying "I love you" a lot more lately. She said it over and over at breakfast the other day. Yes, sometimes I instigate it, but so what? Then last night, David mentioned my name, and she said, "Love her".

It helps so much to think of these sweet things when we're currently in teething hell.