Big Changes

So I tend to fill the blog up with cute Photos of The Bean (which I'm sure is a preference for most) but, this blog also serves as a record keeper and there are so many things that happen that I just cannot capture in photos. So let's re-cap on what's been going on around here starting from back in February. Let's start out by first stating I LOVE VIDEO MONITORS. My kid tends to be a mischief maker and gets her herself into predicaments constantly. One evening as I finally collapsed on the couch I looked up at the monitor and did not see The Bean in her crib and I could hear her screaming. A closer look revealed she had climbed up on her crib rail and was straddling it. As I practically teleported myself up to her room and burst in the door I found a terrified tot straddling and holding on for dear life. I grabbed her (Super Mama to the rescue!) and just held her while she calmed. I then tried to get her to go back to sleep in her crib. Not kidding, I put her in and then RAN down the stairs to check the monitor and sure enough she was already back in straddling/screaming mode in a mere 10 seconds....damn she's fast!!! That night she ended up just sleeping with us until we could figure out our next step. After several more attempts at climbing out, we decided it was time for the BIG girl bed. Brad converted her crib into the toddler bed. I couldn't believe this was happening already....at only 19 months! It terrified me. What was she going to do in her room now, having all this new freedom? And I'll tell you what she did....TRASHED it! Pulling out clothes from her dressers...hangers and diapers everywhere. A mess! She also alternated falling out of the bed (the side the little rail was not on) with just going straight to sleep on the floor. Eventually she got it though and she got back on track with her sleeping. All in all the transition was not as bad as I had envisioned it.

All if this followed with The Bean becoming some sort of Angel Baby. And what the heck does that mean you ask? Well normally I feel like my girl...has a certain personality...though I love her...she can be very trying on the nerves. Most people cannot see this in her but those who live with her...certainly know it. This particular week, she was easy. And easy and The Bean have never been in the same sentence since she was born. We had fun, there was little whining and few episodes of clingy-ness. I remember clearly telling Brad and my BFF's at girls night out that this...had to be the calm before the storm. HOLY COW was I right. For the next month I'd say we had some sort of vicious combination of a growth spurt, canine teeth cutting through, developing her speech and night terrors. And what do all these things equate to? No sleeping. and what does no sleeping equate to? A grump who feels more like saran wrap during the daytime than a kid. Oh...and with a lot of whining just to top it off. What a splendid phase! It's really safe to say that if The Bean ain't happy...nobodies happy. My glimpse of an angel baby soon turned into a demon baby. There were also days where she would take NO nap...my one point in the day where I can rest, work or clean and it was slipped out from underfoot...before I could even realize what had hit me.

This week the sleeping seems to have gotten back on track but the mischief making is on FULL FORCE. She is climbing on anything and everything and getting herself wedged into areas I cannot even describe by typing. Her room is my Mom's old extra room where she had an ironing board hung on the back of the door. Her new thing was to open it up slightly and so she can wedge her body between the door and the board. Ant then she just stands there forever. This mind you while she is supposed to be sleeping. Thankfully Momma was aware of it by...the most wonderful baby invention...THE VIDEO MONITOR. Lastly her new "thing" she's been doing is to crawl out of bed and use the sound machine as a pillow. Yep I'd find her all curled up on top of it. It actually broke my heart when I'd find her doing this as I felt she was using it to comfort but it I couldn't have my kid sleeping on a home electronic. So out the ironing board and sound machine went. She's now really attached to her Eeyore...the ONLY stuffed animal she likes and she picked that one out herself...figures...sounds just like Mama!

Our last big change has been her speech. She has become much more vocal....saying sentences and inflecting attitude into them! We have no idea what she's saying but SHE certainly does and she's not afraid to get PISSED at you if you cannot figure it out. She now points out and says certain animals like "dog" and "duck" when we see them out and about. You have to listen closely but she is talking. It may not be the word perfectly said but we can tell what she means now and that's a huge step for both of us. The other day, my Mom asked her "What's your name" and she replied "Good Girl". I guess we can all give ourselves a pat on the back for giving our kid enough encouragement in her life. She now thinks her name is Good Girl not Sydney! Better than Demon I guess?