I'm a big girl now

You are big enough to use the potty.  You have outgrown your binkie.  You no longer need pull ups or diapers.  You no longer sleep in a crib.  You can dress yourself.  Your room is slowly becoming "your" room and less like the nursery I put together for you.  Your vocabulary has grown and what you say makes sense now.  You can brush your own teeth and hair.  You have likes and dislikes that have nothing to do with me.  You only drink "big girl water" now which is basically water out of a water bottle.  (Justin refers to it as big girl water now too)  You truly believe you will be a princess when you grow up.  You have friends at school that I don't even know about.  You can put together puzzles on your own.  You remind me everyday that "I'm a big girl now".  And as much as it pains me to admit it, you are.  Everyday you are slowly moving away from me and coming into your own. You don't depend on my the way your younger sister does. You say things to be like remember when I was a baby or tell me what I was like when I was a baby.  And I am caught off guard thinking to myself isn't she still a baby.  But you are not. You are a big girl now.    There is that old saying that kids grow up so fast.  And of course it is true.  Justin always tells me we didn't have kids to slow life down.  And I know he is right but what I wouldn't give to just freeze her as she now.  But I cannot.  So I have to let her become the big girl she wants to be.   I am hoping who she really is comes with a little less drama (" Maggie is looking at me, make her stop"  " You yelled at me because I hit Duke"  "I'm going to my room!!!!!!!!!" door slam) but I am still loving every ( well not every) minute of watching her grow

Three years young

My oldest daughter turned three this weekend.  At three she is old enough to dress herself.  At three she is old enough to be out of diapers and needing "privacy" when in the bathroom.  At three she can play soccer but refer to it as football.  At three she can take dance lessons and insist on wearing Crocs.  At three she doesn't always want to hug and kiss me good bye.   At three she answers all of my questions with "Of course"  It is kind of comical.

• "Do you want lunch?" - Of Course
• "Do you want to help me with dinner?" -Of Course
• "Are your toys supposed to be on the floor?" Of course they are not

She reminds me so much of Justin.  The way she talks, the way she laughs.   My Dad said she reminds him so much of me when I was younger.  Of course (see what I did there?) I don't see it. All I see is a little girl that is growing into a young lady that I am determined to keep her little and fun for as long as possible.  Life moves at a rapid speed and I am enjoying the moments in parenthood.

This is what Three Looks like-Enjoy!

Diabetes and a three year old

Children are amazing creatures.  They pick up on things that you don't think they can even understand.  My insulin pump was beeping at me last night because the canula was low.  Rhea says to me "Oh no Mommy, your diabetes is low, you better get a juice.  Don't worry I'll get it for you"  I can count on my hand the number of times I have said I am low to her but somehow she realized it was important and compartmentalized it in her brain.  She then went on to tell me that "Rhea doesn't have diabetes, Maggie doesn't have diabetes, Daddy doesn't have diabetes, Dukie doesn't have diabetes, only Mommy does"  Apparently she has been listening to me.  Having had diabetes since 1991 it is a huge part of who I am now.  I want to set a great example for my daughters  of what living with T1 diabetes looks like.  I want them to understand the disease but I don't want them afraid of it.  I have  often been asked "Aren't you afraid of giving it to them?"  Of course I am.  It is one of the stupidest questions anyone can ask me.  Oh course I worry about the health and safety of my children but I don't let the fear of diabetes control my life.  I am the only person in my family with diabetes of any kind.  No one has any form of diabetes at all.  Maybe I am just a fluke.  Maybe for me it is not genetic or hereditary.  Maybe it is just one of those things.  So I will let Rhea get my juice when my sugar is low.  Because there will come a day when the only juice in the house is an Elmo juice box and I am positive she will fight me tooth and nail for it.  And I will need her to understand it is medicine for Mommy and that I am not stealing her Elmo.  But just to be safe I have stocked up on glucose tabs.

Conversations with a two year old

This morning as I am lying in bed, Rhea comes into my room.   She starts to cry.  I ask her what is the matter?

Rhea "You left me home"
Me" What? When did I leave you home?"
Rhea pointing at my wedding picture  "You and daddy left me home.  I not there"
Me "Rhea that was our wedding.  You were not even born yet.  Someday when you get older you will have a wedding."
Rhea "No mommy.  I have four weddings"

Not much more to say after that.

Generation Gap

We put up all our Christmas decorations this weekend and Rhea was more than willing to help.  As we were emptying out the bins of stuff, she found about 5 Christmas DVDs and two Christmas VHS.  She opened every DVD to inspect the dvd and tell us she wanted to watch the movie.  When she got to the VHS she got really aggravated.  She kept trying to "open" the black case.  When Justin explained to her that this was the movie and there was nothing to open, it infuriated her even more. She threw a hissy fit and kept screaming at him to open it.  The funny thing is we don't even have a VCR to watch these movies so we couldn't show her what we were talking about.  We have since hidden those movies so we don't have to argue with a two year old about what a real movie looks like.  I am feeling really old tonight.

Good Cop, Bad Cop

I have read enough magazine articles, blogs, books, etc to know that in parenthood there will always be the good cop, bad cop.  I always fantasied that I would be the good guy.  Apparently I am filling the roll of bad cop.  Our nightly routine consists of Rhea sitting on the couch with Justin having a bottle and unwinding before we put her down.  Now that she is getting alittle older and exerting more independence she tends to get off the couch and push boundaries.  I came into the living room last night just as she was climbing off the couch.  She saw me, panicked and hauled her little ass back on the couch and pretended to be a sleep.  Now I know she wasn't scared of me but she never has that reaction when Justin enters the room.  To rub salt in my wounds Justin has now resorted to saying "Uh-oh, here comes Mommy" anytime she is being fresh and not listening.   Which makes her run like hell to Daddy and pretend she wasn't just doing something wrong.  She has him wrapped.