Demolition Kid!

I never knew how big of a mess 1 16month old child can make. We have enough toys to stock an entire toy store, but does the kiddo want to play with those?? Of course not. Instead he enjoys ripping every item off of the changing table in his bedroom and finding new homes for those.

I have found diapers, diaper rash ointment, lotion, baby wipes, shoes, toys, etc. in odd places such as the toy box, the laundry basket, the diaper pail (yes, inside the diaper pail with the dirty diapers), even in his crib. The crib is his latest discovery. He has figured out that he can throw things through the slats on the crib and load it up with miscellaneous items.

This picture is how I often find him "playing" in his room:



There are some items to point out in the picture:
* He has a sock in his hand, which was removed from his foot (he must have gotten bored with ripping items off of the changing table)
* He has opened the baby wipe container and has thrown all of them on the floor
* There are clothes which have been removed from the laundry basket laying on top of the stuffed horse under the window
* What you don't see is the open toy box which has no toys removed from it
* You also don't see the CD player on the bottom shelf of the changing table which is playing a cd (he figured out which button to push to make it play, which in turn made him cry, I guess "John Jacob Jinglehimmer Smith" is not his #1 choice of music)

The only thing I can find to stop this is to clean his room and shut the door. I don't want to cause him to think that he is not allowed in his bedroom. We all need a break from each other (trust me!).

So to all you experienced mothers out there...any suggestions on what to do to dissuade him from reaking havoc on his bedroom? Or is this a lost cause and I should just come to terms with my new role of picking up baby wipes from the floor to clean his bottom?

Glasses, Glasses, Glasses!

My 15 month old son wears glasses. He has since he was barely 13 months (he is severely farsighted). He has done great with the glasses. The first couple weeks he would pull them off a lot and did not like to wear them, but he eventually got used to the new face-wear and now he does not bother them much -- only when he is sleepy or if his eyes itch. It has been a great accomplishment, actually one of my better mothering feats in my opinion! I have protected "the glasses" as if they were gold, after all they were not cheap in any fashion and my pockets are very deep (they might as well be gold, they cost just as much!).


Yesterday we had a glasses disaster.


We live in an apartment and have to park a few miles away from the apartment (ok, not really, but in 10 degree winter weather and with a toddler it can feel like it). Yesterday I arrived at home and gathered the 700 items of the kiddo's and then I grabbed the mail and my purse and all the other belongings. Needless to say, I had my hands full. When I went around to get Hoss Cat out of the carseat I realized he had pulled his glasses off. I found them on the side of the seat and put them in the outside pocket for the diaper bag. Safe for now, or so I thought! I decided since Hoss is walking so well and because he weights 28lb 7oz (he just had a check-up, I don't own a doctor's scale!) I would let him walk to the apartment door. So I helped him stand up outside the car and balance and then I let go of him...MISTAKE! He immediately took off through the parking lot. I grabbed the "belongings" and raced after him. I was able to catch him before any disasters occured and we walked to the apartment.


Upon entering the apartment I stripped the toddler of all his winter apparel (it was 10 degrees, there was a lot of apparel), put away all the "belongings," and then skimmed over the mail. Then I realized he needed to have his glasses back on. So I grabbed the diaper bag, no glasses. Then I grabbed my purse and actually turned it upside down and dumped it on the kitchen table, no glasses. I searched my coat pockets, all over the house, and I finally realized the glasses just weren't there.


Enter the husband, home from work. He enters to me frantically looking for the glasses with tears in my eyes. I can't believe I lost them! I JUST had them! So the husband turns around and scours the parking lot. He enters 5 minutes later, no glasses! I am in full blown panic mode by this time! I decide I am going to go look myself (I wear glasses, my husband does not, I MUST have better eyesight!). So I go down, walking slow, looking everywhere I could imagine, in bushes, under cars and then I find them! Sitting all alone under a carport. We never walk under the carport, but that just so happened to be where I chased the kiddo when he took off in the parking lot. They were safe and sound, no injuries and returned to the beautiful face of the toddler!
This entire scenario reminded me of the movie "Parenthood" starring Steve Martin. At one point the parents search through all the trash cans and the dumpster of a pizza restuarant (imagine Chuckee Cheese) when their son accidentally threw away his retainer. I really was 1 minute away from doing this myself!


He's only 15 months old...I still have years of these panic attacks to look forward to. These are the blessings to count! After all, look at this face:

Ignorance is Bliss?

I am a firm believer that God is a comedian! Lately he has shown me this more and more.

I am a person who always has great ideaology on how things should go. I have said numerous times sentences which started like this, "When I have children I will do..."

Ha! Ha! Ha! I shake my head at my total ignorance.

Statement #1 -- "When I have children I will not let them sleep in the bed with me." -- Hysterical! I did well with this when I was on maternity leave from work, but the first time Hoss Cat got sick with a cold when I was back at work I freaked out. What if he has trouble breathing during the night? I won't know. So I instantly put him in our bed and that was the beginning of the end. Now he is 15 months old and is still sleeping with us and I have never had a good night sleep since that cold at 3 months. And don't even think about trying the crib...scream fest begins! I did "intervene" when he was 9 months old and started letting him cry in his crib. After a week of gradually letting him do so he was sleeping alone again (a miracle!). I don't remember what it was that broke that trend. I am guessing one night he would not go to sleep so I put him in bed with us so we could sleep and then he knew how to break us! How the manipulation begins at such a young age I will never understand!


Statement #2 -- "When I have children they will not watch any TV until they are 2!" -- Again I laugh hysterically at this statement! It is great ideaology, but the practicality...I remember the moment Hoss Cat "discovered" the television. It was Christmas 2005, he was 2 months. I put him in front of the Christmas tree to take his pictures dressed as Santa (he was so cute!). He had never been so close to the TV and apparently his vision had not developed to the point that he could see it from his area of the room...far away from the TV. His eyes would not leave the TV at all until I turned it off, then he would look at it waiting for the colors to come back. Well, I think that may have been the beginning of the end! I guess he comes by it naturally. There are few moments in our house in which a television is not on somewhere. It doesn't matter what is on the TV he will watch it...at least for a couple minutes before boredom sets in. Last night he watched an entire round of Jeopardy. Maybe he will be a genius after all...which leads me to...

Statement #3 -- "When I have children I will raise them to be geniuses." My idea was to teach my kids everything they could possibly know before they turned 2...colors, #s, ABC's, names of everyone in the family, animals and sounds, and on and on. I guess I still do have time to work on this and succeed, but since Hoss Cat calls a duck "momma" I have a lot of work to do in these next 9 months.

Statement #4 -- "When I have children I will spend every waking moment with them." -- Again great idea, but really not possible. I am a working mother, not by choice, but by necessity. I think I recognized that I would be a working mother when I made that statement, but what I did not realize is just how much work a full time job and being a full time mom meant (is there such a thing as a part-time mom?). As soon as the clock hits 5 I pick up my son and go home where I feed, bathe, entertain and play with the loving child (and in return he calls a duck "momma"!). And when the feeding and bathing and entertaining are done, can't a mother just sit back and work a Suduko puzzle? Yes she can, but then the red headed baby pulls every toy out of his toy box and onto the floor. I tend to let Hoss Cat entertain himself for a while in the evenings so I can also unwind...but how I feel so guilty. I think of statement #2 and then I try to begin to educate Hoss Cat admist the toy disaster...no wonder he calls a duck "momma."

The moral of the story is that I have been humbled to become a mother. I think of all these statements and want to go back in time and beg for forgiveness from those people I "judged" for co-sleeping or letting their kids watch tv. In these short 15 months of Parenting I learned that at times it's all about survival! Please don't judge me! :-)