It's a wild scene and other random updates
One of Daisy's favorite expressions is, "It's a wild scene!" She says it pretty much every time we leave the house, regardless of whether the scene is (in my opinion) wild. Take it from me--the Outer Richmond is not very wild--but she uses it to refer to the weather. I used this expression ONCE in front of her, at Halloween (which was a crazily windy evening) and the very next day she had incorporated it into her vocabulary. Sometimes she does slight variations, like, "It's a PRETTY wild scene."
Daisy is a two-year-old, so she has no social boundaries. She goes up to strangers in restaurants or in the street and says loudly, "What is that man doing?" Once when we were walking back from the Eureka Valley Rec Center she went right up to a man who was sitting in a car and said, "What's that man eating? I want some!"
Daisy has been taking some longer naps lately, strangely enough. She used to nap for an hour and 45 minutes if I was lucky; but for the last few weeks, two hours has been the minimum and she's had a few naps that were more like 3 hours and one that was 3 and a half hours. I don't bank on these, though, because I know how easily things can change. Lately, if she falls asleep in the car I can easily carry her upstairs and put her in her crib and she'll go on napping. The success of this maneuver used to be more erratic, so I am very grateful that it's been working lately. At night, she still usually sleeps from 8:30 pm till anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 AM. One thing, though, that's been harder is that she has started consciously trying to procrastinate bedtime-- deliberately doing things to make it later and asking for outrageous things (like lollipops and popsicles) when she knows it's bedtime. She has also sometimes not gone to sleep when we leave her in the crib, and we've had to go in more to try to get her settled. So far, keeping my fingers crossed, it hasn't become a full-blown sleep crisis, and I'm hoping it just passes.
I felt like we crossed into a new phase in terms of sleeping during trips, on our Thanksgiving trip last week. To summarize, it was much, much easier. I was able to talk with her, explain that she'd be sleeping in her travel crib and that I'd be in to sleep in the bed next to her. The first night, to my surprise, she was fine and she went to sleep on her own in the travel crib. She did wake up in the middle of the night, but I was able to put her in bed with me and have her go back to sleep, and she slept till 8:15. (!!!!!) The next night she called out a few times, but eventually went to sleep on her own in the travel crib and spent the whole night there, till 6:30 or 7. So I would call these big improvements in her sleeping habits on a trip, and I think it's all because I can now talk with her and explain things to her.
Brushing her teeth is still pretty hard. Combing her hair--not much fun (and she's got A LOT of it, so it's hard even though I've been conditioning it). Eating has been BETTER; she doesn't seem to be quite as fussy and picky as she used to be and I seldom worry that she hasn't had enough to eat in a day. She still loves her bath.
Daisy is doing a lot of imaginative-type of play now. She sits for long stretches, I would say hours, building things with her blocks, and making her animals talk to each other and go in and out of houses, and she talks and talks the whole time, obviously telling stories about what's happening. She definitely has things going on imaginatively that I can't follow now... so I'll find her toys arranged in a very deliberate way, like all sitting in a circle, but I can't piece together what exactly they were doing. Other games I am more aware of... like, she likes to sit at her play table and pretend it's a boat and that she's rowing out at sea, and certain stuffed animals have to sit on the boat with her. Sometimes she wants me to participate in the games, but she is also able to entertain herself for long periods of time without me. She still reads in bed in the morning, too--for anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour. I love that little bit of time when I'm lying in bed, listening to her babbling away on the baby monitor and turning pages.
She was so addicted to books for most of her life, but I have to say at this point other things are starting to seem at least as important. It's not that she doesn't like books anymore, but her toys interest her MUCH more than they used to, and physical activity has a bigger draw. I sometimes realize it's bedtime (I read to her every night) and this is the first time I've read to her. Now, there is so much more playing, dancing, running, drawing, and games with Play Doh than there used to be.
Today was actually the first day that I felt like she was in danger of running away from me in the street. I made a mental note of it, because up to this point, she has never been able to get very far from me. She is just not fast. She still can't get away from me, BUT... I think she's getting close. She is much more insistent now on doing things "by myself," and pushing my hand away. So let's make a note that this happened around 2 years, 4 months. I think a lot of kids got to this point many moons ago, but Daisy has always been a little slower to develop physically. I never had to babyproof my house--let's put it that way.
Daisy has some new alter egos to add to her existing list (the waiter, the fairy, the girl I knew somewhere, the monkey): Miss Monica (the library storytime lady), Tinkerbell, and Mary (from "Mary, Mary" by the Monkees). She often pretends to be these people, but she always makes sure to inform me, "There is only one Daisy."
Daisy is a two-year-old, so she has no social boundaries. She goes up to strangers in restaurants or in the street and says loudly, "What is that man doing?" Once when we were walking back from the Eureka Valley Rec Center she went right up to a man who was sitting in a car and said, "What's that man eating? I want some!"
Daisy has been taking some longer naps lately, strangely enough. She used to nap for an hour and 45 minutes if I was lucky; but for the last few weeks, two hours has been the minimum and she's had a few naps that were more like 3 hours and one that was 3 and a half hours. I don't bank on these, though, because I know how easily things can change. Lately, if she falls asleep in the car I can easily carry her upstairs and put her in her crib and she'll go on napping. The success of this maneuver used to be more erratic, so I am very grateful that it's been working lately. At night, she still usually sleeps from 8:30 pm till anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 AM. One thing, though, that's been harder is that she has started consciously trying to procrastinate bedtime-- deliberately doing things to make it later and asking for outrageous things (like lollipops and popsicles) when she knows it's bedtime. She has also sometimes not gone to sleep when we leave her in the crib, and we've had to go in more to try to get her settled. So far, keeping my fingers crossed, it hasn't become a full-blown sleep crisis, and I'm hoping it just passes.
I felt like we crossed into a new phase in terms of sleeping during trips, on our Thanksgiving trip last week. To summarize, it was much, much easier. I was able to talk with her, explain that she'd be sleeping in her travel crib and that I'd be in to sleep in the bed next to her. The first night, to my surprise, she was fine and she went to sleep on her own in the travel crib. She did wake up in the middle of the night, but I was able to put her in bed with me and have her go back to sleep, and she slept till 8:15. (!!!!!) The next night she called out a few times, but eventually went to sleep on her own in the travel crib and spent the whole night there, till 6:30 or 7. So I would call these big improvements in her sleeping habits on a trip, and I think it's all because I can now talk with her and explain things to her.
Brushing her teeth is still pretty hard. Combing her hair--not much fun (and she's got A LOT of it, so it's hard even though I've been conditioning it). Eating has been BETTER; she doesn't seem to be quite as fussy and picky as she used to be and I seldom worry that she hasn't had enough to eat in a day. She still loves her bath.
Daisy is doing a lot of imaginative-type of play now. She sits for long stretches, I would say hours, building things with her blocks, and making her animals talk to each other and go in and out of houses, and she talks and talks the whole time, obviously telling stories about what's happening. She definitely has things going on imaginatively that I can't follow now... so I'll find her toys arranged in a very deliberate way, like all sitting in a circle, but I can't piece together what exactly they were doing. Other games I am more aware of... like, she likes to sit at her play table and pretend it's a boat and that she's rowing out at sea, and certain stuffed animals have to sit on the boat with her. Sometimes she wants me to participate in the games, but she is also able to entertain herself for long periods of time without me. She still reads in bed in the morning, too--for anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour. I love that little bit of time when I'm lying in bed, listening to her babbling away on the baby monitor and turning pages.
She was so addicted to books for most of her life, but I have to say at this point other things are starting to seem at least as important. It's not that she doesn't like books anymore, but her toys interest her MUCH more than they used to, and physical activity has a bigger draw. I sometimes realize it's bedtime (I read to her every night) and this is the first time I've read to her. Now, there is so much more playing, dancing, running, drawing, and games with Play Doh than there used to be.
Today was actually the first day that I felt like she was in danger of running away from me in the street. I made a mental note of it, because up to this point, she has never been able to get very far from me. She is just not fast. She still can't get away from me, BUT... I think she's getting close. She is much more insistent now on doing things "by myself," and pushing my hand away. So let's make a note that this happened around 2 years, 4 months. I think a lot of kids got to this point many moons ago, but Daisy has always been a little slower to develop physically. I never had to babyproof my house--let's put it that way.
Daisy has some new alter egos to add to her existing list (the waiter, the fairy, the girl I knew somewhere, the monkey): Miss Monica (the library storytime lady), Tinkerbell, and Mary (from "Mary, Mary" by the Monkees). She often pretends to be these people, but she always makes sure to inform me, "There is only one Daisy."
posted by Sarah Goss at 7:41 PM
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