I really can't beleive that Grace is almost two and it has been a year and a half since we came home from Vietnam. This time last year I was preparing for her first birthday. In additional to celebration there were practical things on my mind. Things like switching from formula to milk, facing front in the carseat and saying goodbye to bottles. As her second birthday approaches I again have practicality on my mind. This year it is potty training, behavior and manners. It amazes me. Now we have big girl issues. Here she is playing outside this morning.

Feeling Good and Ready to Go!!

Grace is back to her busy life. This includes playing outside in the morning. It has been 95 degrees and humid so afternoons outside are spent in the pool! Grace adores animals and isn't afraid of them at all. She loves the big labs best! Of course that also means you have to watch her closely. Here she is when she spotted Tommy the cat taking a nap.



She is very nurturing (ha ha) and loves pushing around her baby.



When pushing the grass proves too tiring ...



...something else catches her eye and she abandons poor baby!



Doesn't she look sweet? Not at all like her normally crazed, almost two year old self!

After the Illness

When Grace is sick I cater to her every wish (with the exception of giving medicine, but I'll get to that later). Thankfully now she's feeling better. But now life must get back to normal and first on the list is behavior. When she is sick she whines if she wants something. Now that she is well she demands it and I am not kidding. The last couple of days her favorite words have been NO and STOP IT. The capital letters infer yelling.

She has spent many minutes in time out today. I am very pleased to say she even cried when I put her in time out. I am not saying that to be mean, but time out has never been very effective for Grace. Normally she will busy herself by poking at her belly button, playing with her shoestrings, etc. You know that it is not working when your child is giggling to herself while she is in time out. Well today she was upset. Not to the point of being sorry for her actions, but just being sorry that she got caught. It is a definite improvement. We are getting back on track with bedtime. She is still resisting going to bed, but tonight it only took about five minutes of crying and pleading before she gave up and went to sleep.

Her eating habits are back to normal. She would not eat or drink while she was sick. The drinking part worried me tremendously. I could not get her to drink anything. She ate pedialyte freezer pops ok, but that was about it. **WARNING** BAD MOTHER ALERT - I was so concerned about her lack of fluids that I tried everything I could and I found one thing that she drank. Yoo-Hoo. Terrible I know, but she did drink it.

Grace has always taken medicine well. She is older and more mature now, she is not going down without a fight. I tried to get her to drink it herself, you know make her feel like she had some control. No way, if I wanted her to have it I'd have to give it to her. She was poised to spit it out as soon as she saw me coming toward her. I had to hold a struggling child, tilt her head back, give her the medicine and blow in her face so she'd swallow. Did anybody ever see the HBO movie with Hillary Swank about women's suffrage? Her character was on a hunger strike and they forced a tube down her throat to force feed her. That is the image that was going through my mind everytime I had to give her medicine. Fortunately her antibiotic is sweet and I put it in a little cup with a straw and tell her it's a milkshake. Deceptive but it works. Here she is feeling better and enjoying her chocolate. Chocolate it the one thing she automatically says please for, she sees you with it and she walks up and says please!

You give me fever...

at least that how Grace is feeling. Another ear infection in her left ear. This is the third in about six months. Temp started on Wed, but her infection doesn't usually present itself for a couple of days so we managed the temps of 102 for a couple of days. No biggie for her.

We went to the dr yesterday. Her pediatrician was on vacation so we saw a partner. Her temp had been fluctuating up to 104 but was still manageable. Of course it was down to 99 at the dr's office. Left ear was fire red so we got a shot of Rocephin and 10 days of antibiotics. My mother drove us and on the way home (takes about 40 minutes from my house to dr)she got the chills and was shaking terribly. My mom stopped and ran in a store to get a blanket. I was unprepared I know. I had given her motrin about five minutes earlier and her temp was 103.5. I took her temp again to see how things were working.

Prepare yourself. In the span of a few minutes her temp had gone from 103.5 to 106.5. I almost freaked, however she was alert and responsive so that was good. I had my mom continue home. There was a hospital on the way. I continued taking her temp and it was going down. The motrin had kicked in. By the time we got near the hospital it was down to 103. We opted not to stop. Her temp was going down and my friend Karen is a dr. Karen's house was only about 15 minutes away. I knew she was home taking care of her sick son. Thankfully her temp continued to go down and was about 102.5 when we got home. That's nothing for Grace.

By ten last night fever was gone and so was the constant stream of snot. The rocephin had kicked in and I was thankful. Last time she got rocephin it didn't kick in until the next day. Today we started the ten day antibiotics. She has no fever and is feeling much better. We are dealing with intermittent bursts of whining but she deserves that. We are watching Baby Einstein non stop. She doesn't like cartoons just stuff with real people and animals. She likes Einsteins (as she lovingly refers to them), Sesame Street and the Wiggles (the freak me out but she likes them). So today when one dvd ends she'll bring me the dvd remote and say "einsteins".

I am so thankful that she is better. I am thankful that I was a kid who ran high temps like that, so I know how to get them down and when to get help. I am thankful that I live next door to my parents who have dealt with crazy high temps.

She will have a recheck on July 2. That will also be her two yr checkup. TWO YEARS. Her second birthday is on July 17. And that is a whole other story...
'

Thanks!

Thanks for all the great feedback. It helps to know that others are fighting the same battles. We have tried redirection, explaining that I am afraid she will get hurt, time out, etc. She climbs with a purpose - to get things that she knows she is not supposed to have. Things such as the CD player and night light on her dresser, the pictures on top of the bookcase, etc. I have read before that human behavior is based on pleasure and pain. I think that she figures the pleasure of retreiving the forbidden is worth the pain of sitting in time out. Her eyes just glow when she does get that picture from the shelf.

I am definitely going to look into some appropriate climbing alternatives. And I think she is just going to encounter a few bumps (hopefully not injuring herself) and maybe that will overshadow her love of climbing. Please let me know if you have any more advice.

Calling All Moms - HELP

Grace is a climber, I have written that before. Things are now out of hand. It has become hard for me to get anything done without fear she will fall and break her neck! In the past I have been able to put her in her room with the gate up and have no fear. Now I will walk in her room and she will be climbing up on the chest of drawers. She will stack toys, table, glider...whatever she can come up with. She a smart girl.

I can't take her into the laundry room with me when I am washing clothes. She is two and will be pulling something onto her head, unplugging the freezer, etc. So what can I do? If I am loading the dishwasher she will be climbing on the door or grabbing a knife. If I leave her in the living room watching Sesame Street while I am doing it she will climb onto the big chair and straddle the back like a horse. If she fell that would be an awful fall. She has climbed onto the dining room table and the buffet. You name it.

She is strong and can relocate things where she wants. Help!! I have baby proofed, etc. to try and make things safe. But I have to go to the bathroom quick or she will push a dining room chair over to the bookcase and be attempting to climb onto a shelf.

No exaggerations here. I could give you a million examples. Advice please.

Hot Days

The temps are really heating up. Grace loves to play outside in the afternoon, but has been so hot that running in the grass is now reserved for the morning. She plays in her little pool in the afternoon. She adores Kristan's dog Nanook and they have been having a big time in the water.

In other news...stubbornness abounds at our house. Grace walked up to me a few minutes ago and opened her mouth wide so I could she bits of chewed up orange crayon she was enjoying. Crayons are a constant battle. She loves to draw but when left alone she will munch on the crayons.

Playing with Nanook




Guess who got in trouble?

Grace and Brady

Brady is five days older than Grace. My mom is friends with Brady's grandmother. Recently the grandmothers got Grace and Brady together to play. They had such a good time. When it was time to go home his grandmother told Brady to tell Grace goodbye. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. Isn't he a cutie?!