It's really real

Sometimes when I read other Mommy blogs, I am amazed. These women sound so capable and on top of it all! Is it really real? Or, is it the face they want to present on their blogs? And why am I reading the maternal adventures of some stranger halfway around the globe anyway? I admit, there is some comfort in knowing someone else is sharing my experiences, even if I will never meet them. I think it is impossible to write for a blog without some awareness (however small) of your audience colouring your creative act. For my own part, I try to be conscious of my own acts of editing - but generally it is to avoid sharing those moments that are too boring to relate, or too fleeting to signify much. The point is - if this blog has ever been useful to someone else, it's not been in those moments where I am praising Rebecca's puzzle completion ability - but rather describing my efforts to curb her head-banging tendencies etc. I intend to try harder (when I have the opportunity to post), to be really real.
Lucy has become obsessed with a sequined blue hat. I don't know how it happened or why, but she insists on wearing the thing at all times - on the change table, at the dinner table, in bed. I know when she wants it on, because she grunts at me, points to the hat and says hat. She gets frustrated if, when she puts it on her own head, it is not properly oriented. So often, I must fix the hat for her. Every time I place it on her head, she makes a happy scrunchy face, followed by a grin of insane happiness.
While she may insist on covering her head, she certainly has no interest in any covering of her backside.
Every day for the last week and a half, Lucy strips in her crib. Her PJs - no matter how elaborate, no matter how many snaps and buttons - come off, and her diaper does too. She frequently tries to remove the diaper just after I've put it on her. I'm sure you can imagine the kind of problems this tendency has engendered. There is something that really gets you down about a baby with poo all over her feet, bouncing up and down in her bed. There is also something that really gets you down about having multiple rounds of "elimination laundry" during a day.
For some reason, despite being almost completely toilet trained, Rebecca has gone through a mini-regression in the last week. There have been accidents on the floor. She stands there with me, in front of the puddle, and still tells me that she didn't pee. It's annoying to be given a bald-faced lie, but I can only think it's because she is worried about the consequences of the truth. Our policy has always been that "accidents happen, and that's o.k.". We are trying to be good coaches and focus on the positive. But I suppose the difference between our exultant hurrahs for success and the neutral (and sometimes forced) "it's o.k.", is obvious all the same. I was on my hands and knees wiping up the mess with towels, when Lucy fetched a towel and joined me.
I had a peaceful evening with Rebecca. Before Lucy was born, on nights when Greg was working, Rebecca and I would have a lot of peaceful evenings of togetherness. We would do some puzzles, do some chores, read some books, have imagination play. Tonight, once Lucy was asleep, Rebecca and I had a lovely time together. At one point she looked at me and said "Mommy, where's your tea?". I said "I don't have a tea right now". And she said "I'm going to make you a tea". So she went and got her entire Princess tea set and served me "tea". Tea was cheerios in a Sleeping Beauty teacup, with a spoon in it. Best tea I ever had.