3 sisters

My three babies:

Maja in 2005; Madeleine in 2007; Pippa in 2009

bed or crib… the epic story

I started this post on Thursday night and then didn’t get a chance to write. I’m so glad I didn’t, because by the time this morning rolled around my indecision on whether to force the transition from the crib to the bed for Madeleine was made for me.

Let’s back up a wee bit, shall we?

Fact: Madeleine has had access to her Big Girl Bed (BGB) since July.

Fact: I need the crib in about 4 months from now.

Fact: Madeleine is quite capable of sleeping in her BGB and has done so a few times, but for whatever reason always chooses the crib. Except at nap time, then she insists on the BGB.

Fact: Madeleine is quite capable of getting into her crib on her own.

And now, here is the tale of Madeleine, the Crib, and the BGB from this past week:

Wednesday morning. Early. Probably about 6am. I am in the kitchen having my breakfast and keeping an ear to the monitor, listening for when the girls will wake up. I hear some stirring, some footsteps, and their bedroom door open and close. Footsteps on the stairs… and then Maja’s voice as she says “hi” to Richard who is getting ready in the bathroom. They have a brief conversation before Maja continues on her way down into the kitchen, where I’ve started getting their morning milk warmed up. Maja is in a fabulous mood — happy, smiling, practically bouncing around! Phew. About a minute later she is joined by Madeleine — also in a happy mood. I finish warming up their milk and we head back upstairs so that they can get dressed and ready for school.

We find Richard in the bathroom and I thank him for getting Madeleine from the third floor and bringing her downstairs. I get a puzzled look and Richard says: I didn’t go get her. Maddy pipes up: I get out of my crib! I come downstairs!

Oh boy. She climbed out of her crib and came down 2 flights of narrow uncarpeted stairs by herself. Great. Just great.

Thursday morning. Maddy repeated her antics from the previous morning, except this time I had locked the gate at the top of the stairs so they were trapped up on the third floor. Clearly the previous morning was not a fluke and she has now realized that she can quite easily climb out of her crib.

Last evening, after the kids went to bed, I wondered aloud to Richard that Madeleine seemed to only want to escape her crib in the mornings, not at night when she wakes up and cries for one of us to get her.

I curse that I said that. CURSE. Because on last night she did just that. She realized that escape from the crib IS possible in the middle of the night. Why discriminate? Escape is escape and since the kid can’t tell time… well, it was a VERY long night last night.

It began at 12:16am when Madeleine appeared at the top of the stairs. I sent Richard up, but that was met with screaming, so I hauled myself out of bed, threw on a few extra layers and headed on up. After I calmed her down and told her that it was still sleepy time and that she was going back to bed and NOT going downstairs and NOT going to get any milk, I put her in her Big Girl Bed and sat on the floor (wrapped in a blanket and with my pillow) next to the bed until she went back to sleep. This only took about 20 minutes. I then snuck back downstairs — which I might add is very difficult when your house is 120 years old and has VERY creaky stairs — and had a fitful sleep from 12:45ish until 2am, when a HUGE thunderstorm woke me up. Then I again fell into a light sleep to 4am, when guess who??? decided to get out of bed again? So, I was up there from 4am-4:50am. In that time frame I probably put her back into her BGB about 4 or 5 times. It also involved me removing lightbulbs from the light fixture as everytime Mads would get up to get out of bed she would flick the light on. By the 5th time we went through this she no longer got out of bed but lay there crying: “Mama! I want out of my big girl bed!” At least we’ve progressed to her realizing that she is not.to.get.out.of.bed.

I managed to escape and crawled back into my bed. When my alarm went off at 5:30am I was hearing a lot of noise from upstairs (banging, shuffling, etc.), but since there was no crying, I thought I’d leave her so that she learns that wake-up time is when I arrive upstairs with the milk and not when she decides she’s going to get up out of bed.

So, when I did go up c. 6am I found the following trail, leading to a great surprise:

1. an open bathroom door

2. a diaper in front of the toilet

3. an open bedroom door

4. an empty BGB (no pillow, no stuffed animals, no child)

5. pajamas on the floor

6. a re-stocked crib (pillow, stuffed animals)

and the kicker: it also contained one BUTT NAKED child.

She very proudly stated that she had gone potty. Oh good.

SO — I think the crib is coming out of their room tonight. Clearly it’s just a game at this point. Clearly she has no intention of staying in it and it’s just moot to have it there. CLEARLY my nights of never getting any sleep are just going to start 5 weeks earlier then I had planned.

On the upside: I don’t have to buy another crib.

early October

Early fall in Philadelphia is something to enjoy. No bugs, no heat, no humidity, the sun is bearable, and the temps are mild (upper 60s, low 70s — high teens, low 20s for my Cdn friends).

We were able to enjoy some time at the playground on Saturday afternoon. Not just enjoy because the weather cooperated, but because the girls were not fighting over who got to push the babydoll and stroller.

I may need to have a new rule: all toys MUST come into this house in duplicate (and soon, triplicate).

Has a fear of dolphins

What do you call a phobia of dolphins? I don’t know either and google was no help except to tell me that both Jessica Simpson and Tyra Banks share this fear. Whoop-dee-doo. In my family the dolphin phobia has hit Madeleine. Poor thing. I mean, really, dolphins? They’re harmless! They’re friendly! They’re smart!

We discovered Mads’ fear of dolphins when we took the kids on a dolphin watching excursion during our vacation in Cape May. Mads wanted nothing to do with these porpoises in the water. In fact, she wanted so little to do with them that she promptly started crying and then took an unscheduled 1 ½ hr. nap in my lap that morning.

(Photo courtesy of my friend Elyn.)

Please, no comments about my hair. It was windy. I know I look like some madman from a 1930s horror movie. Like maybe Vincent Price?

When she awoke and found to her horror that we were still on the boat, the first thing she said as she looked up at me was: No more dolphins coming?

She’s 2, and all that.

Last Saturday, on July 25, my baby turned 2. I can hardly believe it. She is a very very very busy 2 year old. She talks in full sentences. She’s of the philosophy “why walk when you can run? Or climb? Or jump??”

She went from this:

To this in a blink of an eye:

Really – get a load of that hair!!

Of course I get all teary-eyed when I write this, after all my baby is growing up. And then I am reminded by someone kicking my insides that we’re about to start this whole process all over again. So I cry.

Maddy demonstrated her true 2-year-oldness yesterday when, as I was helping Maja into her pajamas, she escaped the bedroom in her clean diaper and dry pajamas, opened the bathroom door and promptly climbed into the ½ drained bathtub to play with some bath toys. I hauled her out of there, dripping wet, she looke up at me laughing and said: I’m a rascal!

Yes, Maddy, you’re my rascal and I love every inch of you.

The disease strikes again

So, after an awful weekend in the sleep department… we found out on Monday evening that Madeleine has Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease.

Another summer, another enterovirus. At least this time she didn’t land in the hospital.

If your child has never had this let me give you a little primer (side note: do you say PRY-MER or PRIM-ER?) on what it’s like: HELL. Complete, absolute and total hell. In Mads’ case, the entire interior surfaces of her mouth (lips, cheeks, tongue, underside of tongue) are covered in blisters and sores. She’s in extreme pain, she can’t eat, she can’t sleep, she’s cranky, inconsolable, and miserable.

You can imagine the fun we’ve been having the past few days.

So, this is what I’ve learned: you know your child is really sick when they refuse ice cream; jell-o is acceptable. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are your best friends. When your child begs to go home while at the playground it is best to obey this wish. Have no agenda. Expect to get nothing else done. Have a reserve of patience and sympathy and use it.
On top of all of the above, I got a migraine on Monday morning (related, I’m sure) which lasted through to Tuesday evening. Taking care of a sick kid while suffering with a migraine is not pleasant. Not at all.

Thankfully we’re on day 6 of this nightmare, so she should be back to her chipper self by the weekend – and the start of our vacation. Cross your fingers for us!

well, THAT was a disaster

Every child is different. Every child is different. Every child is different.

Why then, did 3 separate people ask me this weekend if the girls were twins? Why then, did Madeleine not take to her “big girl bed” this weekend with the same enthusiasm and ease with which Maja did? WHY?

Saturday night:
Put Madeleine to sleep in her big girl bed. She immediately stands up and starts wailing. I leave the room. She gets out of bed and stands by the door, rattling the doorknob and crying for 10 minutes. She then crawls into Maja’s bed and goes to sleep.
1am. Maja wakes up to discover Madeleine in bed with her. Starts yelling at Madeleine to get out. I go upstairs to find Maja yelling and Madeleine standing in Maja’s bed, arms outstretched… I spend 45 minutes trying to get Madeleine back to sleep. I fail.
1:45am. Bring Madeleine downstairs into my bed. Richard leaves for the sofa.
2:30am. Madeleine is still awake.
3:00am. Madeleine is still awake.
4:00am. I wake up to discover that Madeleine is asleep.
6:30am. Maja is awake. Richard retrieves her.
7:30am. Madeleine wakes up, as do I.

Sunday night: do we try this again?
Madeleine is exhausted – in part from Saturday night’s adventures and in part from a busy Sunday that did not include a nap. She falls asleep in my lap while reading bedtime stories. I plop her into her bed and pray.
3:35am. Madeleine is awake. Rattling the doorknob… and oh! Hey! She can open the door! Now she is standing at the top of the stairs… screaming.
Richard goes upstairs in an attempt to get her back to sleep. No dice.
4:10am. Richard and Madeleine watch t.v.
5:00am. Madeleine is deposited into bed with me. She falls asleep.
6:15am. I get up (late).
6:30am. Maja gets up. Madeleine gets up.

The whole family spends the remainder of our time together in the morning in a slight haze.

Tonight? I think it’s back into the crib. For the sake of my sanity. For the sake of everyone’s sleep. We tried the big girl bed. It’s not working. Maybe we’ll try again in another month. Because you know – every child is different.

portrait of Madeleine

I love this photo of my sweet baby girl.

The sibling wars: them against me, or them against each other?

You know this: siblings fight. I know I fought still fight with my sisters, although now over more important things like … oh, I don’t know. But it’s not over shoes, or money, or who got the bigger piece of chocolate cake.

Maja and Madeleine fight. Mostly it’s some unidentifiable indiscretion that Maja has decided on a whim is annoying: She’s following me! She’s copying me! She took my [insert toy name here]. I want the pink one! You ALWAYS let Madeleine have that and I NEVER get it.

It’s exhausting.

Recently, though, they have started playing together a bit better. And with that has come the escalation of ideas for what constitutes having fun. For example, if Mads wants something up high then Maja has the brains and reasoning power to facilitate the acquisition of whatever it is that Mads wants. Admittedly, at times it seems as if Maja is putting words/ideas into Madeleine’s head – I’ve got to keep an eye on this.

Yesterday afternoon Madeleine was quietly playing in the backyard with a bucket of water and some dirt. A perfect toy! She was just puttering along… putting a little water in a pile of dirt and stirring it around. Perfectly happy.
Maja arrives on the scene.

Mads, what are you doing? Are you making mud? [here she goes, planting ideas...]

Uh-huh. [really, the only answer she ever gives her sister, save for the occasional NO!]

Can I help?

Uh-huh.

Want to make mud soup?

Uh-huh.

We need more dirt. We need some leaves. We need more water!

You can only imagine the mess that followed.

If I had a choice, though, of them playing together and making a mess vs. them fighting and me having to intervene every 30 seconds… I’ll take the mess every time. The girls are in cahoots and I’m not complaining! Well, at least not until they facilitate each other sneaking out of the house when they’re teenagers…

curls

Maddy’s luscious curls:

I love to twirl them around my fingers. She bats my hands away. I am left with capturing them in photographs. At least she plays nice to the camera.

I fear, though, that her curls won’t last forever. She has my hair — thick dark-blonde hair. I had that haircut and curls once too:

Katia, late 1973: