Model Citizen

My neighbor summed up this past month with Lucy quite nicely the other day.  He told me that he hadn't heard any defiant screams of NO! or out of control crying lately.  I told him that is probably because it's been cooler out and our windows are now closed.  But seriously, even with the closed windows, he is mostly right. Lucy has had a great month.  She has been helpful when Emma is fussing and plays really well on her own most of the day.  She is taking solid naps again and sleeping well still at night.

That is not to say that we don't have our setbacks still.  A couple of weeks ago she had a horrible bladder infection that seemed to come out of nowhere.  She lost all control of her bladder, and would just stand helpless as puddles formed around her and she screamed in pain.  If you know Lucy, not having control of her bladder was almost as bad as the pain.  At one point, there were seven different puddles strewn about the first floor of our house with random cloths thrown on them - a baby blanket on one, kitchen towels on another, bath towels on yet another.  They were happening so fast all I could do was grab the nearest absorbent object, throw it on the puddle, and comfort her.  Earlier that day we had taken her to the doctor for an emergency visit because she was in so much pain and peeing blood.  That doctor visit will go down in the record books as one of my most stellar mom moments.  There I was in the doctor's office bathroom with Emma strapped to me in a carrier, squatting next to a toilet holding a little plastic cup under Lucy who was perched above while I pleaded with her to pee in the cup.  I tried every tactic I could think of to convince Lucy to pee.  As my legs grew numb and Emma's fussing turned to full on screams I grew desperate.  I wondered if the nursing staff could hear Lucy's screams over Emma's.  I hoped that no one was waiting to use the bathroom.  Finally, I said something no mother should ever say - "Lucy, I'll give you anything you want if you pee in this cup.  Anything.  You name it and it's yours!"  As my mouth said the words my stomach clenched and I immediately started regretting it.  What would she come up with?  I was really in trouble now.  Lucy looked me in the eyes, stopped crying and told me without pausing, "I want two juice boxes and Elmo stickers."  "DONE!"  I replied with a ton of relief.  Her eyes had not unlocked from mine though, and she repeated, "TWO juice boxes mom.  AND stickers."  And with that she filled up the cup.  Once she hopped down I was faced with the dilemma of whether or not the top for the cup that had earlier dropped in the toilet would flush down or if I had to pull it out.  As I reached my hand in the public toilet, I told myself at least Lucy didn't demand a Barbie Dream House and hot dogs every night for dinner for the rest of her life.  I am happy to report that the antibiotic worked within the first eight hours and Lucy has been fine ever since.

Yup, Lucy has been a model citizen and we think it is because she now has an alter ego who does all of the bad things that Lucy used to do.  Simone has taken over where Lucy has left off.  Lucy is forever telling us of the things that Simone has done.  The other day she told me, "Mom, Simone just pooped on the floor.  On the carpet.  With no pants on Mom!"  My response, "Wow, what did you tell Simone after she did that?"  Lucy, "I told her, 'Simone, no pooping on the floor!  Poop only on the potty.  Poop is dirty Simone!'"  Then, a brief moment later Lucy added, "Mom, can you clean it up please?"  Or she will tell me, "Mom, Simone just woke up Emma.  I told her, 'No Moan, you can't wake Emma up!  She is sleeping!' But she wouldn't listen Mom.  She just woked her up."  Even better, after Will tucked Lucy in last night she called Will back up stairs multiple times because "Simone isn't eating right dad.  I think she needs to burp."  and also, "Simone is hurting me dad - I told her 'No Moan!  No hitting!' but she keeps hurting my arm dad."  I'm thinking of maybe getting a special doll-sized chair for Simone to sit in for some quiet time when she acts up.

Lucy continues to be a picky eater, although she eats the most odd things at times.  She loves helping herself now to the fridge, and continues to drive me crazy by leaving the door wide open.  I tried explaining to her about the baby penguins and how we need to conserve energy, but she doesn't seem too concerned.

 Here she is below eating salsa out of the container with a spoon.  Now keep in mind she would never eat a tomato cut up on her plate, but a vat of salsa?  Apparently that's different.

 Lucy likes to think outside of the box when it comes to her vegetables, as last week she ate a mushroom in the backyard.  Again, she would never have eaten it if we had put it on her plate and told her it was dinner.  We freaked out and called poison control who was super helpful.  They even called back twice in the following 24 hours to monitor Lucy's condition.  She fortunately was no worse for the wear, but gained some new material to tell people that Simone did.

The other day when we were shopping at Kohl's, Lucy saw a double seater shopping cart available, and decided it was perfect for her and Simone.  Slightly annoyed I told her no, I wasn't going to push that big thing around with one hand because I had Emma already in a front carrier on me.  A sales lady overheard the conversation and misunderstood - she thought Lucy was fighting me and wouldn't go in the shopping cart.  This well meaning but highly aggravating woman picked Lucy up and put her in the shopping cart while telling her that she should be a good listener for her mommy.  The good fortune was not lost on Lucy and she shot me a smile as she was placed in the cart.  Deciding it wasn't worth fighting I placed Simone in the front seat and off we went.  As we were waiting in line after we were done shopping, Lucy started telling me about how there were three Christmas trees next to us, one for Lucy, Emma and Simone as she pointed to her upheld three fingers.  An older woman behind me was listening and asked which one was Simone, as she loved that name.  Slightly embarrassed, I pointed to the doll in the front seat of the double shopping cart and watched as the woman took a step back and said, "Oh, I thought you had another daughter in school."  Needless to say, she was not amused.  Awkward silence ensued as we waited for what seemed like forever for it to be our turn.

Life is never dull at our house.  I did discover a great alternative to a Pack and Play (a.k.a. portable crib and play pen) though.  Lucy and Emma actually sat in here long enough for me to throw together dinner.  Priceless!