Reasons

I've been musing on the fact that I'm stressed out and have come to the conclusion that it's related to 3 things. I am going to have to dedicate three different posts to these three things, but I will start with the most obvious and adorable:

My incredibly strong-willed, demanding, busy-busy-busy, curious and really smart little thirteen month old girl. I know I was busy and active when I was little according to reports from my Mom, but I don't know if it's possible to be as much work as this little one! Here's a small sampling of what a typical morning might look like:


6 am or so:  (unpredictable): Wake up happy, get diaper changed while clinging for dear life to my teddy bear, also twisting and squirming, trying to stand up and look out the window in the hopes that I might see a squirrel (yes I know it's dark out this early- she still tries). How I love those squirrels and I get so wide-eyed when I see one, making my universal "animal" sound, a series of loud yelps, that my Mom assumes comes from the sound of a barking dog?

6:15 am or so: Refuse to let my Mom put me down. If she's not on the ball and awake already and decides she needs a minute I jump on her and hit her while she lies in bed trying to collect herself, also scare her by standing as close to the edge of the bed as possible and looking at her with an adorable smile and raised eyebrows so as not to allow her to relax.

6:30am or so: Mom puts me in my chair. Mom gives me food right away to avoid my screams and yells. Usually I get a banana and eat that while Mom makes me toast. After eating most of the banana really fast (usually before the toast is done) amuse myself by squishing, smearing, and spreading the remaining banana as high and as wide as I can. Take the toast. My Mom gives me the whole piece in hopes that it will entertain me longer as she tries to prepare breakfast for herself and the other children. Take pieces of toast and throw them (no wimpy throws here, note, these have power behind them) on the floor, followed by the cutest little "uh-ooooh" imaginable, making a lovely "o" with my mouth. This ensures my Mom still loves me.

6:45am or so: I usually finish breakfast right before Mom wants to sit down and eat. So, she washes all the banana off my face and hands, puts me down and at this point I sprint, literally sprint to the little kid table where my brother and sister are eating their breakfast. Try to make as big of a mess of their oatmeal/cheerios as possible before they move it away from me. When they do and refuse to let me make a mess of it, I cry. Then they give me little bits of it on the table. I spread it around, and eat some.

7am or so: While Mom cleans up breakfast, I work hard to undo as much of her work as possible. This is crucial. If I am not undoing my Mom's cleaning efforts, I am BORED. And you know what happens when I get bored. I whine. I make my Mom hold or entertain me. Serious setback in the cleaning efforts.

7:05am or so: My Mom works out. At this point I'm wonderful. She works out in the basement where there are toys and a brother and sister doing all kinds of interesting things. I'm wonderful for about half of her workout, at which point I start to get in her way in as many ways as possible: sitting on, climbing underneath, grabbing for weights, etc. If she happens to kick or trip on me, then she has to pick me up because I'm already tired and this makes me cry, thus ending the workout portion of the morning, to be resumed when I go for a nap (if I go for a nap...)

7:30am or so: My Mom gets me water in a sippy cup. Awesome. Drink half, spill half. Minutes of entertainment while she starts getting my brother ready for school.

7:45am or so: This is where I am being ignored and get to perform my favourite repertoire of activities. These I perform throughout the day when I know my Mom has other things to do and I am upstairs with her. They include:

- tearing pages out of books
- playing in the toilet full of pee, also unravelling the toilet paper and putting it in the toilet, then sucking on it
- pulling clothes out of drawers
- pulling toys out of the bathtub bucket
- destroying Jesse's lego creations
- also going back to see if Breanna has left her breakfast bowl (she never clears it) and dumping out and smearing the remaining contents all over the floor.

Get the picture??

I know all Moms do it and if you do it without being stressed out, I COMMEND YOU!!! But I for one am stressed out over it and as far as that goes, I love it!!! I am excited to see what this little firecracker does with all her energy and passion.

It's going to be good.

I love how she's looking at me in this picture. We love each other.

I want to be big and love trying on big stuff, especially big shoes and dresses and stuff my Mom needs to help me with. Then I'll often dance and spin in circles. She loves this.