Venturing out with a toddler and a newborn...

I am proud to declare that I am becoming more bold in my outings with toddler and newborn. God knows, sometimes journeys with the toddler alone are catastrophic, but... I am finally overcoming my fear of disaster, and I am managing o.k.! O.K. ... provided I follow some simple rules, and am prepared for spontaneous barfing:

1 - Pack everything for everyone into ONE diaper bag only. Bring only essentials. No purse, no second diaper bag. Just changes of clothes, diapering supplies, food and drinks, and baby essentials (i.e. bibs, cloths, hand sanitizer). Bring wallet, epipen, glasses, keys. That's it.
2 - Do not do anything with both girls just prior to toddler naptime or just after toddler naptime.
3 - Bring a change of shirt.
4 - Don't do anything for too long.
5 - Put Lucy in a stroller, not a carrier.
6 - Go places that aren't too crowded.
7 - Use bribery if you must. Carrot works better than stick everytime.

Regarding item 5 - this is because it is summer and gets hot and sweaty, plus, it means that although your hands are free, you can't pick up the toddler or crawl under objects to remove her. Also, the stroller is a convenient dumping location for gear. If you go with just a carrier, carrying even one diaper bag and managing crazy toddler becomes uncomfortable and difficult.

Hooray for Sesame Street Old School

I purchased two volumes of Sesame Street "Old School" for Becca (and admittedly, in some small part for myself). It's fabulous. I think my favourite moment so far, has been seeing Becca laughing uncontrollably when Cookie Monster eats the letter M.

Thumbsucker

Lucy is a dedicated thumbsucker! I feel like a broken record for saying this - but here is yet another experience that we never had with our first. Perhaps Lucy's ability to self-soothe in this manner is the explanation for her excellent sleeping skills. She appears to have a marked preference for the left thumb so far. I am already wondering whether it is advisable to try to gradually introduce something else she could use for soothing - maybe a satiny blanket edge such as Becca uses. I don't know - I haven't done any research yet on the pros and cons of thumbsucking, I just have a vague impression that it might be problematic in the long term for dental development, and that it can also be a challenging habit to break. Naturally, I am not thinking of doing anything to alter her habit at this time, but it seems worthwhile to think ahead.

Music class

I have now taken Rebecca to three music and movement classes. Given her love of music, and her passion for dancing and singing, I was certain that a music class would enthrall her.
Well, I was shocked to discover, on the occasion of the first class, that Rebecca could be incredibly intimidated by new surroundings. While we were waiting for our first class to begin, Rebecca could hear the sound of guitar coming from the room. She was so excited, I had to restrain her so that she didn't burst in on the classroom. However, when it came time to enter the room and experience it for herself, she became a first class clinger. This had never happened before! She had her arms firmly wrapped around my neck, and sometimes her legs wrapped around my waist. I felt like a mommy monkey, carrying my offspring. There was perhaps one other child who seemed overwhelmed and shy, but even she was not superglued to her parent. As an introvert, there have been many occasions in my life where I would have liked to indulge in a full-on cling - at least, figuratively, but I never expected this behaviour from my over-the-top fireball extrovert daughter. For the entire duration of that first class, she whispered "No?" repeatedly, as well as "Go home" and "Crocs on!". Despite all this, I did notice her tapping her foot to the beat of songs, and she was willing to hold some of the instruments.
The second class was half cling, and half sitting in my lap, with a little bit of singing. Yesterday was the third class. She clung to me for all of thirty seconds, and then allowed her personality to emerge. That's right - it was full-on Becca, the likes of which no one in the classroom had seen before. Unless you've met Rebecca, it would probably be difficult to appreciate just exactly how exuberant and energetic she can be. She laughed, she squealed, she sang, she participated. In fact, she tried to turn a ball-rolling game into her personal soccer practice, and I actually had to remove her from the group for a while. So, the bottom line is - she loves it, and I am glad she was able to become comfortable because she is so happy now. She just needed to adjust, and I am glad neither I nor anyone else, tried to pressure her or push her to come out of her shell until she was ready.

The princess obsession continues

We are now forced to devise cunning princess references for each item of clothing that Rebecca is wearing. This may seem bizarre, but it has certainly proved an effective solution given the fact that there is only one nightgown in her bedtime wardrobe. Also, this has enabled us to put her in shorts on some occasions. So... we see a lot of Jasmine shorts, Jasmine PJs, and Sleeping Beauty t-shirts. The funny part is that none of these items actually have any link whatsoever to the princesses in questions, except perhaps a tenuous link based on colour, and whatever makes the label acceptable in the mind of a toddler.
I think the second pic captures her "mischief" look. I see this look on a fairly regular basis. Becca knows when she is doing something she is not supposed to do, and it shows in every inch of her body language. She might be swiping Lucy's bottle, opening the dishwasher, or dragging a chair to the kitchen sink... the look is there.

Sleep master Lucy

With only a minimum of sleep training, Lucy is sleeping 8 hour stretches or more. It's fantastic!!! Perhaps she takes more after the Marshall side of the family. Poor Rebecca seems to have inherited some of my sleep disorders - I wish there was some way to ensure that your children only receive the best of the genetic material you can offer them (no doubt this will be possible in the future). Getting extra sleep makes me a much happier and healthier Mommy, but the temptation is to use the time when they are both asleep to do something productive or fun. The truth is - I should sleep too! Usually I am pretty good about this, but time to my self is in such short supply that it is difficult to resist.

Ohhhh POOP.

Timeline: A couple nights ago
Location: The Marshall abode
The event: Bathtime

Dad: "Time to get ready for your bath Rebecca! Let's get you undressed!"

Rebecca strips down obediently, then runs off shrieking. She visits Mom who's feeding baby sister on Mom and Dad's bed. She gives Mom a big naked hug from behind. Very cute.

Dad returns to the bathroom to finish prepping the bath water.

Mom: "Rebecca peed on the floor in our bedroom!"

Dad goes in to discover that she not only peed on the floor, but all over (fortunately) Mom's side of the bed.

Dad shoos Rebecca out of the room, to give mom a chance to clean up. Rebecca runs off to the living room. Dad chases her down, finds her standing on the sofa.

Dad approaches Rebecca cautiously, not wanting to startle her into peeing all over the living room furniture.

Dad manages to scoop her up, carries her into her bedroom to fetch a towel.

Unidentified object: "Thunk"

Dad: "What was that?"

Dad looks down, to see a rabbit turd on the ground. Uh-oh.

Rebecca grins maniacally, holding up two handfuls of rabbit turds.

Dad wonders exactly how the poops got from Rebecca's bum, which is firmly enveloped by his left arm, into her hands, which were decidedly empty moments ago when he picked her up in the living room. Some things will be pondered later. It's time to deal with the situation. Dad runs to the washroom.

Dad: "Rebecca, can you throw those in the toilet please?"

Poops: "Plop, plop, plop, plop."

Dad: "Thank you, now it's time to wash our hands."

Mom: "USE THE HAND SANITIZER!"

Dad: "Here, lots of soap."

Dad finishes cleaning up Rebecca, scrubs his arm, retrieves the first poop from Rebecca's bedroom, scrubs the floor, and goes and investigates the living room floor. There is one more lonely poop on the floor by the sofa, fortunately not on the carpet. A quick check of the sofa pillows, the floor under the sofa, and of the carpet (patterned, better to disguise poops) reveals no obvious fecal stowaways. A little more floor scrubbing and order seems to be restored.

Dad gets into the now lukewarm bath with Rebecca, gets peed on three times, replaces the water twice, and a good time is had by all.