End of the Week Update

Where has the week gone!? I realize I haven't posted since Monday. I think it is a sign of us entering a little bit of normality around here. Normality in our new life, that is... as parents of a lively two year old.

I know many of you can relate but by the time my daughter is asleep around 8:30 each night, I am just ready to hit the sack myself! I did just that a few nights this past week. And the other nights I just decided to veg out in front of the TV. Lovely way to recharge, eh? I do miss TV though. I've gotten lucky lately with back-to-back episodes of 30 Rock at 9pm. I love that show. It makes me laugh out loud. There aren't many TV shows that make me do that.

Michella is doing great! There are so many new things everyday that it is hard to recall them all but I'll try.

New things this week: More words, such as "Dee" for Daddy, "Tita" (for auntie, our house-helper), "Gedald" (for Gerald, our cat), "Fia" (our other cat), "baby" (for her dolls and stuffed toys), "hinay" (slowly or gently in Visaya), "ee-go" (ligo ta, which means, let's have our bath time in Visaya), "side" for either outside or inside while pointing to the door, "ee-ee" for ihi (pee in Visaya), "oo-oo" for poo-poo, "yeah yeah" said quickly for yes, "go!" for let's go, and lots more "Meh-meh" or "ma-ma" for mommy,  "thdoo" for thank you, "be" for please, "hello!" and "bye-bye." She also says "Yay!" enthusiastically and often as well as "Whoa!" Last night when Andrey came home from work she said, "Yay!!!"

In fact, she has started saying hello and bye bye to perfect strangers when we go out. It's very cute. She clearly loves the attention she gets when she charms the grocery store cashier and bag boy with a cheery hello. Whoever said our daughter is shy was wrong. She's not shy. Sure, she may bury her head instead of interacting sometimes but there are many times these days that she doesn't. Just yesterday when we walked outside, she went straight over to our neighbor's driveway, saw them sitting outside and said a loud and friendly, "Hello!" Also, she is getting better and better at play dates and when we have visitors. She no longer needs to stay stuck to me constantly when other people are around. What a relief!

And get this! Andrey and I left the house last night after 7:30 pm! This is a first in what feels like a very long time. Our friends invited us for some post-dinner wine and cheese. Knowing it was a complete experiment as to how Michella would do, we lowered our expectations and decided to give it a try. After all, we can't not ever do anything after bedtime in the evenings forever! To our surprise, I was able to put her down to sleep in their guest bedroom and Andrey and I enjoyed a nice, relaxing evening with our friends. What a treat! We both remarked at the fact that Michella did not show any apparent discomfort in falling asleep in a new place. This must be a sign of her being more securely attached to us. YAY!!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. She has started saying "no" - initially to the cats when they are scratching something they are not supposed to and more recently to me, when I tell her no. When she's doing somethings she's not supposed to and I lower my voice to that I'm serious about this tone to say slowly, "Michella," she suddenly will say, "Noooooooo no! no! no! no!." Like she's saying it so I won't have to. The point is, she knows what's coming. Smart girl.

Let's see, this week she put my washcloth in the toilet and got the toilet brush, stuck it in my water glass and started scrubbing the floor in our bedroom. I was proud of myself for not reacting (I'm getting better at this), taking a breath and then calmly stopping her from what she's doing without getting angry at her. After all, she wasn't doing this just to make me angry, she's just copying things she sees. Like mommy rinsing her cloth wet wipes and diapers in the toilet (with gloves on, mind you). The other day she moved a chair and pulled it right up to my desk and started typing on my computer. Thankfully it was locked. It's not that I am leaving her unattended, I'm just usually doing something in the bathroom like washing my face or getting dressed. It's hard to keep eyes on her during all waking hours!

Lately, I have found the late afternoons and early evenings quite challenging. By this time I am just plain tired of entertaining a two-year-old and I usually need to make dinner. Not a good combo when the very act of making dinner must involve entertaining a two-year-old and monitoring her every move so she doesn't get into something she shouldn't. Sometimes I have no choice but to let her wreak havoc - as long as she is entertained and not hurting herself or breaking something. Last night I left her to play with the cat food and water. I know, seriously - who lets their two-year-old play with cat food?  There was soggy cat food EVERYWHERE so in addition to making dinner, washing dishes, setting the table, keeping an eye on the two-year-old, I had soggy cat food and water puddles in TWO rooms to clean up. Fun. I was a real joy by the time Andrey got home.

I've started doing some prep cooking during nap time and that helps a bit but then I don't get anything else done the entire day. No emailing, no blogging, no budget upkeep (I am SO behind!), no menu planning, no grocery list-making, no exercising, nothing. These are the things I choose from during nap time and decide which one takes priority for my one free 1.5 hour break in the day. I find the monotony challenging, so accomplishing just one thing that is outside of the realm of parenting or home-making, makes a world of difference in my attitude and abilities as a mother.

I now know I am not one of those moms who wants to stay home 100% of the time. I now know I am a much better mother when I get a short break regularly. I am looking forward to the day when I can get out of the house for an hour or so to do something frivolous, like say, get my hair cut. I got so desperate for a hair cut the other day I just went ahead and did it myself. I didn't just trim it, I gave myself a new cut. It took a whole nap time but I was quite pleased with myself for not screwing it up completely and actually giving myself a decent cut. I think I can cut my hair better than my hairdresser! Nobody knows the unique characteristics of my wavy hair like I do anyway and I regularly leave the salon feeling disappointed. I may be onto something. At any rate, I didn't do anything else that day but boy did I feel accomplished!

Have a great weekend everyone!