Over-stimulated Toddler Aaagh!

We made a 750 km car journey to my cousin's house to spend my granny's 90th birthday all together as a family on Thanksgiving (i.e. Thursday). My cousin has a 3yo and an 11 month old and Johnny is in toddler heaven. We arrived yesterday afternoon and he got way overstimulated/overtired and we all had a hard time at bed time. He woke up an hour later, sat up, said "Katie. Where is Katie?" and then lay down again and fell asleep. Then he woke up at 5am and didn't go back to sleep until 7am, and after a morning of shenanigans just could/would not take a nap. We tried the car journey trick, and I thought he might fall asleep while cuddling me in a front carry in the patapum around the shops, but no. He did that toddler narrative that they do at bedtime for the first time.

Eventually when we got home we whisked him upstairs without seeing the other two and after a small struggle he crashed like a ton of bricks. Bedtime tonight was another nightmare. He'd be 90% asleep and then suddenly pop up and say "Where is Ouma?" or "I want to play" and then when he finally gave up, he started trying to count to 10. He knows parts of the sequence, not all of it, and the middle part he knows seven, but kept tripping over it. It was very cute but so frustrating. The poor boy's head was spinning. I hope the car journey back cures him, or it will be a long way home.

Come on Mommy

He learned "Come on" from his friend Elizabeth. He has used it nearly every morning for over a week now when he gets up. I've tried "Come on Daddy, Mommy's sleeping" but he won't be swayed. Now when he's falling asleep and I sneak out the room if he turns over and opens his eyes and doesn't see me, he says "Come on Mommy." It's the cutest thing, like he's inviting me to get into bed with him.

I haven't had too much more success with "nana all gone," but last night during a 2-hour teething Oh Yeah I'm Really Awake Now marathon "nana is sleeping" did work. Unfortunately he still wanted to cuddle. In his bed. And it took at least an hour to get him back to sleep (after half an hour of toddler tossing to the sounds of "other side Mommy" and then Mommy needs to wee, Johnny needs to wee, Mommy's getting Johnny some milk out the fridge, Johnny's raiding his toy shelf... aaagh! But yes, after "nana sleeping" he accepted that, and cuddled to sleep. Such a pity he didn't pay any attention to "Mommy's sleeping Johnny sleep too." Sigh.

All Gone

What a weird bedtime. All went according to plan: dinner, bath, nappy & jammies, then books on the couch with Mommy & Daddy, night nights and then mad dash into the bedroom, eagerly climbing into bed, and "nana please Mommy." The problem was that he didn't fall asleep between the two sides of nana and then was increasingly awake. So I left. Not the disaster I imagined.

We exchanged about 3 mintues of "Mommy!" -- "Sleepy time Johnny. Night Night." (repeat) Then he started crying, so Daddy went in. He shouted "Mommy! Mommy!" for about 10 minutes. At one point it sounded like he was giving in and going to sleep, but he was really just winding up to have a melt-down. I went back in, Daddy left, he tearfully said "Nana please Mommy" and he latched on. He sucked for 30 seconds, said "Nana all gone, " rolled over and went to sleep.

Five minutes later he must've rolled over and stirred and saw I was gone because he started crying and when I got in there he asked for nana and I said "Nana all gone" and he repeated "all gone" and rolled over and went to sleep! Happy as a lark! Bizarre. Maybe this night weaning thing won't be so hard after all?

I expected "all gone" to be something devastating for him, but I suppose that (a) he's used to draining the boobs and them refilling like magic and (b) he's reaching the age where he can't be fagged to get all the hind milk out. In hindsight, "all gone" is a concept he has understood for many months, mostly related to food. If he's hungry in the car and we run out of food and I say "all gone" he takes it well in stride, so I suppose the concept of "all gone" is temporary in his interpretation: he is always satiated before too much longer. I should probably try and remember not to use "all gone" when I mean that something is permanently gone. Hmm.

Look at me with the long sentences.

It seems Johnny saves all his big sentences for his Daddy. In the car, after 15 minutes of squabbling over where Johnny's feet should go (Daddy thought neither in his back nor on his shoulder, Johnny disagreed), Johnny came out with: "Stop! Be nice to Johnny's feet, Daddy." Then, at bed time, "Move Daddy! I want cuddles from Mommy now."

Farts are funny

Johnny passed a very important rite of passage this evening: his first amusing fart. He was cuddled up with me on the couch having his "na na" and his little butt sounded the alarm. "Was that your bum bum?" I asked, and he stopped nursing for a moment as he thought about it, and then giggled and giggled and giggled.

His thinking is really getting quite abstract now. On Saturday morning I watched him solve quite a complex puzzle. He wanted a stool to stand on so he could reach the sink. First he pushed the box-shaped soft cooler bag up to the sink, but when he stood on it his feet sank to the floor. Then he went into the living room, got down on his hands and knees, and pulled his wooden box out from under the coffee table. He got it all the way to the kitchen doorway where he encountered a Daddy Roadblock (which was oblivious to the back-story but knew that Mommy Needed Him To Watch Johnny For Five Minutes) and there was a bit of a tantrum until I saved the day by saying "excuse me Daddy" and lifting the box up over the step it had snagged on and let him complete the puzzle. When he was triumphant at the sink and just about to get stuck into wreaking havoc on the dishes, Daddy was able to distract him with putting his nappy and Jammies on for his nap.

I also had the realisation this weekend that we have conversations now which mostly make sense.
"Are you hungry?"
"Yes."
"Would you like some cheese?"
"Yes, white cheese." (Tootles over to the fridge and opens the door and the cheese drawer.) "Help, Mommy."
"Here you go."
"Thank you Mommy."

It's no uninterrupted night's sleep, but it sure is useful being able to communicate his needs.

Fish eat Johnny's toes.

We do have a lot of fun in the car in the mornings. I'm not wild about the habit of removing his shoes just before we get to daycare, but if he does something adorable like having his rubber fish eat his toes and has the courtesy to narrate it for me, it's hard not to smile anyway.

And the diamond mining begins...

Johnny has learned to pick his nose. "Mommy boogers in nose. Here Mommy."

More development and a parenting validation

In recent weeks we now have "yes," which has made life much easier. In the past all we had was "no," which could've meant no or yes, but now we're firmly at "yes" and "no" and it's quite a relief.

Alongside this burgeoning communication, comes the expression of his will. Saturday morning he announced that he wanted grapes for breakfast. After the grapes we made eggs and pancakes, so Sunday morning he got up requesting a repeat performance. I'm less impressed with the new backseat music critic, however. "Off Mommy!" "Mommy where is k-k-k?" (His alphabet CD from the library, which has played no small role in keeping him entertained on the way to and from school and in him learning the alphabet.)

Toddler times bring hitting, biting, kicking, etc. and he's nowhere near able to tell what hurts and what's fun. We handle unwelcome physical attacks with a firm, eye-level "no, we don't hurt our friends/mommy/etc." and then a forced apology with cuddles. This morning he accidentally bumped the bathroom door into my head, and when I exclaimed "Ouch!" he grinned broadly and said "Sorry Mommy." The other validation that we're Doing Something Right is in the middle of the night when he wakes up and he says "Please Mommy Na-na. Please Mommy." His dear father in an equally sleepy state acts more like a drunken sailor.