Kat's rant

So the other day we were driving to costco for a couple of groceries and Kat was just a straight up jabber box. First, she went of on this tangent:

"WHAT? We're going to COSTCO? I don't really like going there. For one thing, it's cold. And also, it takes a long time there. I like going at first, and then it always takes a long time and I get cold and I don't like going then. But I like helping you at costco, but not for that long." well, OK then... moving on...

Bear was looking out the window repeating "ba! ba!" She said, "no Papa! There is no ball out there! I'm always trying to teach him things. Like earlier, he thought the oranges were balls! I'm trying to tell him, 'no, oranges are oranges. and apples are apples. and balls are balls. all of these things are different.' If I just keep telling him this stuff then maybe he'll learn it. Also, he thought the letter O was a circle. Now I can see why he thought it was a circle, because it looks exactly like a circle, but it's not. it's an O. I can tell cause it was mixed with other letters. So we're talking about letters, not circles." and finally...

We were out running errands and I didn't watch the clock. It was past lunch time and Bear was falling asleep. So I offered a treat of McDonald's. Now Kat hasn't had McD's in I don't know how long. A long time though. So I told her we'd go and she said, "Oh! OK... there's on right over there on Snell Rd!" I laughed because she's right. But I told her, "Brother is almost asleep, we need a drive through...." She said, "OK, well the one by the Little Gym has a drive through." I agreed and said the one by our old house also does. She said, "Oh yeah, over by Rosenbaum". She's right. Who knew my kid had such knowledge of the whereabouts of McD's?

Little Shit

So today had been a good day so far, pretty much. We had our issues getting ready for school but for the most part were able to prevent full on tantrums. After I picked her up from school I told her that we were going to the library. She was thrilled, but started to be naughty. I told her that naughty little girls did not get to pick out books from the library. I told her that I needed her to be a good little girl and then she could pick out some books. You know what she told me? She said, "OK Mommy, then I'll just be good until I get the books, and then after I have them I'll be naughty." I felt like I got punched in the gut, but I calmly said, "well Baby Girl, even if you're naughty after we get the books, then Mommy will just take them away. It doesn't matter if we rented them, that doesn't mean I'll read them to you." She said, "oooh" Like it dawned on her that she had missed that detail.

So that spun us into talking about why she has been behaving so badly lately. She told me, "well, it just depends. Sometimes I just don't want to go to bed. That's why I kept getting up that day. But today I'm very tired, and will certainly go to bed like a good girl when it's bed time today." SHE IS DOING THIS CONSCIOUSLY! Are you freaking kidding me? Incidentally, she did go to bed like a good girl tonight. And she was a good girl for the rest of the day. But it does concern me that she has this power to turn it off and on. She's a sweet girl mostly, but do I need to have her head examined? Please, please... let this be a very short phase. I miss Normal Kat.

Sassy smart (literally, smart) mouth

You know what Kat said to me the other day? She likes to write the grocery list now. I tell her what to write and how to spell it, but she likes to do it. Needless to say, making a grocery list takes frickin forever these days.

Either way, that's not the point. She was spelling something and said, "OK, E. How do I make an E?" I said, "A line, and three lines coming off of it..."

You wanna know what she said? Go ahead, guess....

She looked up at me and said, "Mom? It was a rhetorical question. I know how to make an E already"

Excuse me while my eye twitches a little..........

How did I land in HELL???

OK, so the title sounds a bit dramatic, but seriously, I don't get it. Kat has always been a good girl. She has always responded well to discipline. Usually just knowing she has disappointed someone is enough to break her heart and send her into a tearful apology. She has an incredible sense for logic, so she usually figures out that her behavior is inappropriate and fixes it before there is too much of a scene.

Well, gone are those days my friends. GONE with the effin wind. Tonight was certainly the worst it's been, but it's been getting bad for a while now.

A little while back Katie stopped taking her time outs like a good girl. I hardly have had to give them to her, but when I did she used to take them, apologize and move on. HA! I never knew how lucky I was. I'm paying for it now though! So specifically in the last few days, she jumps up from her time out, laughing in our faces, and grabs a door or something solid so that we literally have to fight just to get her naughty ass to sit back down. After one day when I (somewhat calmly) returned her to time out for over an hour, Hubby decided to look it up on the internet.

The article he found suggested that if the child turns the time out into a game, or if you have to return them to the spot more than 3 times, simply sit and hold the child for the duration of the time out. At first, it worked like magic. Kat screamed and cried for me to let go. She swore up and down she'd be a good girl if only I'd let go. (OK, she's dramatic, keep that in mind. I wasn't even holding her tight) Anyhow, it worked. She apologized and we had a good rest of the day. Then it happened again a couple of days later. Didn't work as great, but it did work.

Today takes the cake though. All the times I watched Supernanny and talked crap about the crappy, clueless parents out there. "I would NEVER let my kid act like that. WTF is wrong with people?" Yep, that was me. And you know what? Now the poor sucker on TV, the one who swears up and down that they've done everything and that their kid is 'different' and just doesn't respond to discipline... now THAT's me. F. How the F did this happen to us? What did I miss? Which day was I absent when they passed out the NAUGHTY AS FING HELL PILLS?

Tonight she got out of bed to go potty. Normally if she has to go, she'll holler for me and I'll tell her, "if you have to go, just go. Then get back in bed. It's not a big deal." Well tonight, she got up and announced from the hall that she had to go. I said that was fine, and then she needed to go back to bed. She went, then she came out and sat on the couch and said, "I don't want to go to bed". I said, "Well, it's bed time and you need to be well rested for school tomorrow... back to bed". She looked at me and said, "no". My rage was starting to rise but my own wise words are ringing in my head. "Be calm. Always be calm. DO NOT let her know she is getting to you." So I told her that I wanted her to make a good decision and go to bed, and make me proud. She would not budge. In fact, she ran away as though it was a joke. So I picked her up and silently put her back to bed. It's pretty much a blur from there. I kept putting her back in bed but it got to the point where I wasn't even able to leave the room without her running out and chanting this infuriating song:

Over the hill, over the hill.....
STOMP STOMP STOMP.

Don't ask me where the hell she picked that up, but she did. So she would march down the hall every time she got up and sing this song. I decided to nip that by being right outside her door so there was no march to be had. She thought that was funny too. Little shit. Eventually I spoke to her, telling her that she was making Mommy disappointed and sad, and that I wanted her to be a good girl. And I reminded her that Mommy is in charge, not Katie.

Eventually she did decide to lay down and go to sleep. Eventually. But honestly, I don't feel like dealing with this crap for any kind of long term. I love being a mom but nights like tonight make me realize how Hubby can't get snipped quick enough. We're SO DONE having babies.

There is no end to this rage driven blog. I truthfully do not know what eventually made her decide to turn off the naughty button and go to sleep. It pisses me off though that it could be turned off and she just chose not to before that. Oh man, all the cliches are true. Terrible Two's are nothing. Three's weren't even that bad for us. We had our moments, but all in all we loved Three. Four though, Four is upon us. And there is plenty to smile about, but plenty to cuss about too.

just a quickie

I forgot to mention in the last post... Kat was talking about how she doesn't have her own room anymore. She wasn't really complaining about it, just saying it. So I said, "I know Baby Girl, I'm sorry you don't have your own room anymore, but..." And she cut me off and said, "Mommy, don't be sorry about that... I totally LOVE my new room!" She is a sweet angel. Really, she makes me so happy.

We made up this song together, to the tune of the Mexican Hat Dance:
Cuddles and Snuggles and Lovels and Doves,
Cuddles and Snuggles and Lovels.
Cuddles and Snuggles and Lovels and Doves,
Cuddles and Snuggles and Loves!

She giggles every time we sing it and asks for MORE MORE MORE.

Miss Manners

My little Kat is expected to be a well mannered, polite young lady. We of course have taught please and thank you and all the essentials. But she surprised me the other day when I put her lunch down in front of her while I finished preparing Bear's and she sat there calmly until I sat down to feed Bear. I asked her, "what's the matter baby girl? Why aren't you eating your lunch?" She said, "well, it's polite to wait until EVERYONE is eating before I start". Well what could I say? She's right... that is the polite thing to do. I've never enforced this rule with the kids. I've never asked her to sit and stare at her yummy food while I get everyone else's ready. I don't know exactly where or when she picked it up. I definitely wait until everyone has been served but I've never asked her to do so. So, either she is incredibly absorbent or someone taught her the rule specifically. Either way, good girl Kat! I'm so proud of her!

Also, Brother fell down today and got a little bump on his head. She said, "Oh, let me go and get him some ice. Ice will keep the swelling down." Yes, yes it will. My little angel takes what we teach her and uses it practically. I love it that she can problem solve and that she has such a want to take care of people.

We had friends over the other day and Kat was very aware of making sure everyone felt welcome and at home. If one wasn't playing with the group, she would go take her hand and say "c'mon, let's play!"

OK, so that's the good. Now for the bad.... Kat will NOT take a time out like a good girl. She actually tells me, "no Mommy, I'm not taking a time out for just that." If I tell her to come here (and she's in trouble) she'll stand across the room with her hands on her sassy little hips and say, "No, I don't want to". 95% of the time she's the best girl ever, but that other 5% she goes all 'Lord of The Flies' on me. So far we're just doing the consistent thing and trying not to go insane when these moments arise but it is very difficult! When she is being scolded she will actually say, "DO NOT talk to me that way. Try a nicer tone and maybe I'll listen". AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

some stories

Kat's vocabulary and cognitive thinking is growing by the minute practically. I need to write some stuff down before I forget. These stories are happening so fast I can't get them all in print!

So the other day she had preschool and then Little Gym right after. Normally, this is not the case. Normally after preschool we come home and rest. But this day we had to do both. So on the way to Little Gym I was asking Kat about her day at school and she told me that they were playing restaurant in the play kitchen and a boy was playing with a toy. Then, another not nice boy came and ripped the toy out of the hands of the first boy. You know what she did? She told the mean boy, "HEY! That's not nice!" I was so proud of her I started to get a bit teary eyed! My little shy girl stood up for a boy she barely knows! I told her that she made a good decision and that it was nice that she helped the boy. (and of course told her that we never hit or push, but that it was OK to say something) So, I told her that for making a good decision, we would do something special together when we got home. She was very excited at my approval and thought for a few minutes...

Then she said, "Mommy, I'm feeling very tired. And I'm anxious to get my special time. So can we skip Little Gym just this once and go home now?" I know she likely was tired, so I agreed that this one time we could skip Little Gym and go home. Then on the way home, she told me, "But Mommy? You know what? Daddy still thinks I'm at Little Gym right now!" Her dad was at work, so I thought it was pretty funny that she realized that Daddy had no idea that we changed plans. She is a very good thinker.

When I'm at work, Kat will often steal some printer paper and tape and go into her room and wrap a "present" for me. Very sweet. So she did this a couple of nights ago and before bed laid my present out for me to see when I got home from work. She told Daddy, "Obviously, you can't tell Mommy what it is.... (whispers, with her finger up in the air).... but it's a hair pretty and a coin!" Obviously? Oh my.

So the only other thing I can think of right now is last night she was getting out of the bath and ready for bed. I asked her, "honey, is your room clean and ready for bedtime?" She said, "I think so, but go look". I asked her who the boss was and told her that she may not tell Mommy what to do. She said, "Mommy, I was just telling you what you could do, not what you should do." Oh, that's a hard one to argue with.

Call it a wild guess, but I think my hands are going to be more than full as she grows up. Yikes!

1st day of school scrapbook

My Best Little Helper

Today I needed to get a lot of cleaning done and I was running out of time. Normally Kat follows me around and helps me with whatever chore I'm working on, but today I asked her to go and clean her room. Yeah, I know... she's 3 1/2. But still. Seriously, go clean your room! I didn't expect miracles but I figured she could get started until I got there, and this would allow me to clean faster without her right there with me.

I got into a cleaning zone and Kat suddenly came out of her room yelling for me to come look at how clean her room was. When Kat is excited, she jumps up and down in place. She does this often, and it's so freakin cute. Anyhow, she was frantically jumping up and down in place and of course I dropped what I was doing to go look at how "clean" her room was.

And you know what? She did a terrific job! I was amazed at her focus. She helps me with everything... she cooks with me, cleans with me, changes baby with me... and now she cleans her room! Ah I love the little Kitty Kat....

Imagination

Kat is using so much of it lately. She comes up with really elaborate scenarios complete with details that I have no idea how she invents. And she articulates it really well!

Today while Hubby and I dealt with some deep cleaning we asked her to play in her room for a little while. I walked in to check on her and Woogie (her girl twin) was in the stroller and Kat had her sunglasses on. I asked what she was doing and she said, "well, Woogie has a play date today with Amelia. And we're just taking the stroller because Amelia's house is close enough for us to walk to. Amelia is a friend I made up for Woogie and she's a baby too and her mommy and me and Woogie and Amelia are going to Amelia's house to play". Later she told me that it was a good time, they didn't really get anything done but they had a lot of fun playing together.

I find Kat making faces at herself in the mirror sometimes or she'll say something funny while looking at herself. Hubby walked in on her the other day bouncing and dancing to a song she made up, "Take me to the best, take me to the best". Funny girl.

Kat is so eager to help out around the house. She gets upset if I start a chore without asking for her help. I love it that she wants to be so involved even though every little thing does take longer than it should. I love being with her.

Kat's new favorite book is Purplicious. I found her 'reading' it to herself and it was so cute because she was pretty darn close to what the pages actually said. She got really self conscience though when she realized I was listening. I asked her to please keep reading because I love it when she tells stories and here's what she came with: "well Mommy, maybe we can do that in my dreams tonight" (Every night we asked where in our dreams we will meet and do something special. Most nights it's Disneyland, tonight it's Purplicious) I think it's sweet because that's her safe place to read when she feels shy and she's going to share it with me. She's a sweet heart.

I'll leave with a video I took from my cell phone. It's not the greatest quality at all, but it's super cute!

MOOOOOM??? Are you done in the bathroom?

Oh yes, she said it. I was combing my hair and walked out to check how much longer I could expect Bear to nap for and she popped out of her room and said that. I was a little surprised and somehow felt like I had done something wrong! I said, "yes, I'm done for now"... pretty much knowing what was to come next. She said, "well, you're supposed to turn off the light. and you didn't. I saw you just came out of there and you forgot to turn off the light." Well, she's right. There wasn't much for me to say, so I said, "You're right, Kat. Can you turn it off for me this time?" She said, "Well, I already did, but you need to remember to do that from now on, OK?" Precocious little shit! I love it!

OH, and she now correctly uses the phrase, "Mommy, that was a rhetorical question!" Lovely.

Some insight and stuff

So yesterday was a busy day for Kat. We seem to have double booked her crazy 3 year old schedule. We signed her up for a summer school class... cooking for preschoolers. She loves it! However, she is also taking a summer musical theater class for a couple more weeks. She loves that one too, but it overlaps cooking class on Tuesdays. So, for the 2 Tuesdays that it will affect, she leaves cooking class 15 minutes early and we're set.

So yesterday I took her to Musical Theater class and the teacher wasn't there yet. So we sat outside and she had a snack and she gabbed my ear off about what happened that morning at "school". She told me all about how 2 boys were naughty and they got time outs. "I wasn't naughty though, and I didn't get a time out. But those boys were naughty like sometimes my brother Bear is a naughty. Um, I think boys are just naughty and that's why boys get time outs. Cause I didn't get a time out but they did." ...

Then she started telling me about her new friend Holly. She said, "And at snack time I played with Holly. She didn't get a time out either. She's my friend at school." I asked her how her and Holly became friends and Kat looked at me like, duh, and said... "I just told her I wanted to be friends and I'm {Kat} and she said yes." My eyes are welling up with tears as she tells me this. I tried to poke around for more details but apparently it's pretty straight forward... "We were inside before snack time and I told her my name and said I wanted to be friends and she said yes. I told you this already, Mom." OK, I'll take it for what it is.

Then she tried to pick a flower off of a bush outside musical theater. I told her no and she pretended to do it anyway. I said, "Kat, I told you no. Do not pick that flower". She said, "oh, please Mother. I want to so bad". MOTHER? Since when does she call me mother. So I asked, "since when do you call me mother?" She said, "Well, you ARE my mother, right?" I asked her where she learned this and she says "From nowhere. I just know you're my mother". She's drama.

So today we were getting all loaded up in the van to take her to school and she told me something kind of interesting. She said, "Mommy, sometimes when just you and me are driving in the car, it's kind of like we're in a movie and everyone is watching us on TV." What a concept for a 3 year old to articulate! The funny part is, I used to... and often still do... feel the same way. I would almost hear narration in my head of tracking my moves as a child. Often I would get de ja vu's and such and it would freak me out. I think it's so neat that Katie feels this also, and that she is able to express it.

Kat says the damndest things

So today alone Kat has said so many crazy things I can't even remember. She's 3... THREE! But she speaks like she's, well, older than 3.

So today was her first day of a cooking class we put her in at the preschool that she will go to. She told me before Daddy took her to school that "sometimes she gets a little shy." I told her not to worry, that Daddy would stay with her until she felt ready for him to leave. She shrugged and said, "I'm ready, he can leave". Oh geez. She's growing up too fast! When we picked her up I had to choke back tears because she really was OK. She smiled and hugged me, but didn't seem at all concerned that I had been gone for the past FOUR hours. She had a blast.

Today she randomly asked me if I'd like to get naked and go swimming. Not too sure where she got that, but OK.... moving on.

At Toys R Us she got to pick out a new lunch box today for school. She chose an Abby Cadabby one and when we got to the car I realized it was torn. So she told her dad to please exchange it for an Ariel one. I told her to only get the one she wants, not the one she thinks we want her to get. She said, "I WANT the Ariel one. I changed my mind." I told her OK and Chad went in to exchange. So while he was in there I told her I was sorry that the Abby Cadabby lunch box she liked so much had a tear in it. Later I apparently repeated myself because she said, "Mommy, you already said that earlier. You don't have to be sorry... I got an Ariel lunch box now".

She was playing a game with Bear where he had to get the right shape into the right shaped hole. IF he started to do it wrong, she would say, "oh no honey, this way. I know honey. This way honey. Honey, it's like this..." Little Mommy!

Then earlier I was coming around the van and she said, "Oh Mommy, you scared me... and I had to make a face like this..." (asked me to move so she can hope out of the van and re-demonstrate how her face looked) She hopped down and made a fake scared face that was the cutest thing I saw all day. Then she got back in and proceeded with whatever crazy talk she had been doing. Later I was telling Hubby about this and she showed him the scared face and then asked if she could get out of bed long enough to see it in the mirror. She's so funny.



Darn it, that's all I can remember. She said so many more crazy things today.

Kat's personality test

I was emailed this personality test and Kat wanted to take it. I thought it was really interesting which pictures appealed to her.

my little artist

So I have been so proud of Kat's art lately. She didn't really start drawing too much until a couple of months ago, and it has taken off from there! Her art has meaning and depth (yes, I am absolutely prejudiced!)! This is a picture that she entered into the sprout sharing contest. The contest is "what do you like to do during the summer". She got quiet for a few moments (quite a feat for her) and finally said, "Mommy, I like to play ball during the summer. I'm going to draw a picture of that so you can put it on the computer and I can be on TV" (Isn't technology amazing?)

Anyhow, this is her playing ball in a grassy field. When asked who she is playing ball with she says, "Well, that's me grown up. So little me and grown up me are playing ball together". Man, I wonder what a child shrink would say about this? None the less, it's precious to me. She has many more pieces of amazing art here.

Brother Love

Kat LOVES her little brother. And she's quite a smart little thing! I came across this video just recently and felt like it should be shared. This was done in December of '07 so she is barely 3 and he is barely 3 months.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

quickie

yesterday we were driving to the store and people were driving like they've never driven before. So instead of saying what I was really thinking, I nicely said, "Hmm, these people don't know how to drive very well". Katie said, "why Mommy?" I said, "Well, I guess they aren't really paying attention that well". She said, "yeah, well, maybe they just don't know how to multitask or something"

I LOVE IT

so true

"I'm just a drama queen"

she said it, not me. This time

sub conscience monsters

so she woke in the night and needed Mommy. I held her for a long time, until we both fell asleep. The next day when I spoke to her about it, she said she had scary dreams because "weird stuff was disappearing off her walls"

Poor thing, we had just taken down all her pictures the day before for the move. Little angel, it must have bothered her on some level that we were packing up her room.

a moment

Kat and I had a little moment together. A friend and I trade our children for babysitting purposes. Today I was at their house watching her kids and the little girl didn't want to take her nap. Me being the softy, I happily offered for her to come and snuggle with me and Kat on the couch. EBelle was a bit tearful, she was saying her leg was hurting. She was definitely playing it up, which was super cute and oh so transparent. I played a bit and said, "Oh Belle, where does it hurt? Show Mrs V..." And Kat was right in there, hugging Belle and rubbing her head and saying, "it's OK, don't worry. I'll take care of you." So Belle points to where it hurts... and the 'hurt' kept moving. She was totally playing us. I looked over her head at Kat and we both just kind of smiled. It was the first time I noticed that Kat knew when people were being dramatic. It was this really nice moment between us. Like a little secret we told each other just by looking :-) Love it.