To "treat" you after taking you to get needles in each arm and one of your legs, I took you to Chapters to play with their huge Thomas the Train set; your dad went to work. You'd been talking about choo-choos all morning. There was a weird man and his daughter who joined us at the train set. I'd easily overhead him talking to an employee. "Hi, my name is Blah Blah Blah. I'm a poet who has just published a book. It retails for $16.95..." His daughter was at least three inches shorter than you, my tenth percentile girl, so I assumed she was much younger but once he sat down he was constantly quizzing her. What colour is that? Say chopper. Bring me the blue train. Bring my the orange train. What does the train say? Thanks for the red stop sign. It was really annoying. If we did that to you, you would tune us out and never participate in any conversations with us. Turned out the little girl was a year and a half so you might not be the shortest girl in your class...
Our next stop (after picking up a new Elmo book called Sleep Tight) was to the little garden centre in the Mac's parking lot. You thought it was great running into the covered area and then calling me as though I were lost. Until someone got between you and me and you froze, panicked that you may not be able to get to me without someone picking you up and keeping us separated. (Dad tortures you like that so maybe your fears are vaild...) Once you made it back to safety, clinging to my leg, you actually ended up helping the lady water the flowers because hey, it was wonderful, wonderful water. This gave me time to snag up a some packs of annuals and a couple lovely grasses for our pots.
By the time we got home, you were wiped so you went to bed after the neighbour girl dropped off a dolly stroller and a toy wheelbarrow for you. Just over an hour later you woke up so I went and crawled into your bed with you. You were just dozing back off when I went to move your legs closer. You bolted awake and began whimpering. Owwie, those needle pokes were apparently sore so I gave you Advil and by then there was no chance for going back to sleep. We checked messages and Nigel had called so we called him back and he came over. By the time he arrived we were outside potting flowers. You showed him everything in the yard while I finished up. Well, while I tried finishing up. I think you thought I might ditch you with Uncle Nigel because I ran inside a couple times and became very clingy, needing "Up. Pleassse."
Nigel had gone home so I thought it would be a great opportunity to go for a bike ride. I went to get the bike and trailer out of the garage but it didn't fit through the door. So I tried to open the big garage door but half a palette of bricks were sitting in front of it. A little irritated, we decided to go for a walk. About two blocks away we hit a garage sale with tonnes of brand name girl clothes and some great toys. Of course, I had no money and no way to carry you and a bunch of stuff so we went home to get the stroller. You haven't been in the stroller for ages. The last few times we tried to put you in there you screamed and convulsed until we granted your command to be free. I feared trying it at first but remembered I've wised up a lot since last year - I decided that I am not above bribing my child with candy! I gave you a sucker, put on your bib, got some wipes in a little sandwich bag and we were on our way. We got some great deals. All the clothes were a dollar, including three fleece Gap sleepers in awesome shape. The highlight for you was probably a little battery-powered choo-choo that we got in a bag with a track, another car and two more little toys for a buck.
We didn't get home until after 4:30 so you ate supper and Dad came home - to no supper and no prospects of supper. So we went to Dairy Queen. You nibbled a hot dog and fries, gulped your milk and ate most of the ice cream on your cone. And you were fairly well behaved, staying between your dad and I until you couldn't stand it anymore so you then stood a foot from our table on the floor dancing and singing and being impressed with all the people. At one point, you were reaching way up to put your fry on the top of the booth so I asked how big you were. You said, "Two," and the woman at the next table commented how big you were. Little fibber. But I guess you only know to say one when you want "just one" and you hold up one finger.
After picking up some movies, we went home. Dad mowed the lawn - finally - and I bathed you. You washed all your body parts, your eyes, cheeks, chin, nose, neck, ears, arms, elbows, wrists, hands, chest, tummy, legs, knees, ankles, feet, and toes. You played a bit longer, then got out, put on your jammies and diaper again without a fight. I said we'd read just one book - your new Sleep Tight one - and after that, you were out within a few minutes. It was a really pleasant day. Really pleasant. You have never been so consistently calm and cooperative. I wish I knew what was so special so I could duplicate it!
I really appreciate calm after the past few nights scream festival we've been having. You've been waking up early and often and screaming from your gut in between smashing your head into the wall, the bedrail, your dad's head. You began sleeping in a big girl bed about two weeks ago. I bought you some flashy Elmo sheets and a Dora pillowcase. The transition from our room in our bed to your room in your bed was rather seamless. You've been coming into our room at either 1:30 or 4:20, your normal wake-up times for the last 21 months and that's fine. But for three days in a row, you'd throw a fit for almost an hour between four and five and drive everyone nuts. There was no consoling you. You were livid. Violent. Dad would try and pick you up to comfort you so you'd go wild, screaming "MAMA" and reaching out for me. When he'd let you go, you would cuddle up to me for a couple minutes, catching your breath from crying before starting all over again. Needless to say, today was a really nice change of pace.
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