Beach Bum or Snow Bunny?

Halloween

Tiny Adult

Potty training. Check. (Big girl underpants all day, every day. Woo hoo!)

Literacy. Check. (Can write an "H." Can recognize "M" and "D.")

Driving. Check. (Helps me park the car at home.)

Ornery when doesn't get nap. (Same as me.)

Doesn't like to clean up messes. (Ditto.)

Makes powerful and convincing arguments about why things should be done her way. (Future attorney?)

It is very challenging to maintain parental authority, credibility, and control with a 2 year old who thinks she is an adult. Fortunately, she is such a good-natured fun-loving kid that the terrible twos are really not so terrible after all. While there are fleeting moments of terrible-ness, they are far outweighed by delight. If I can get her on film showing off her dancing moves, you will see what I mean.

The Whopper

Hana told her first full-fledged, pre-meditated, manipulative lie this past Sunday as we were driving home from Tahoe.

It all began with predictable whining about wanting to get out of the car. After all, it is a long drive, and it's no fun being stuck in the car seat all that time. About 20 minutes from home, she notified us that she needed to go potty. I told her it was OK to go in her diaper and that we weren't near a potty. The next 5 minutes went something like this:

H: I need to poop.
Me: OK, you can go in your diaper.
H: [grunt, grunt, grunt] I pooped. I need a change.
Me: Hmmmm, Pete, what do you think? Can we make it home or should we stop and change her?
H: I need a change!!!!!
Me: OK, guess we should stop.
H: Mommy, do you have a plastic bag for the poopy diaper?
Me: Not sure, I'll have to check.
H: [As we are pulling into a gas station, Hana sprouted a giant grin] Actually, I didn't poop.

She knows that when she poops she needs to be changed right away, and she used that to get us to let her out of the car!!! The whole diaper thing has now become her ticket to get what she wants. She uses it at night - holds it until after I've put her to bed, then poops, then I have to get her out and change her. Last night she even took off her diaper in her crib so I would have to come in and deal with it.

Sheesh!

On another note, we had a wonderful first camping experience in the preschool back yard. Here are some photos.

Toddler Heaven

What more could a toddler want than to meet Curious George and get her face painted like Spiderman all in one weekend?

Last Friday evening, we all went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum (thanks for the membership Grandma and Grandpa Geckeler!) for a special event - meeting Curious George. Actually, the main event was a musical performance, but obviously the highlight of the evening was meeting George. The museum was well-prepared for the stir his appearance caused. George had his own bodyguard/handler that kept him safe and moved him along through the throngs of groping toddlers and hoards of parents with cameras. Hana was quite excited to meet him, although a bit nervous about getting too up close and personal without one of us right by her side. She did give him a high five though.

Then on Saturday it was "Kids Fun Day" at her preschool, where she got her face painted. Despite the best efforts of the (ahem) "traditional" volunteer parent who tried to steer her towards a princess or a butterfly design, she picked the Spiderman face out of the book of pictures. So that's what she got. I was a little worried she might be scared when she saw herself in the mirror, but she took it all in good stride. She had a nap afterwards and when she woke up, she said "Mommy, want to see the Spiderman all over the crib?" The paint was all over her sheets.

On another note, Hana has developed a serious case of the "why's." No response is ever sufficient explanation. Tonight I was patting her belly to help her go to sleep and I stopped and she said, "Mommy, why did you stop?" I said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, it was an accident." The response: "But mommy, why did you stop though?" After several fruitless attempts to claim it was an accident, I finally said, "Because Mommy's brain wandered and thought of something else and forgot to tell her hand to keep patting you" to which she responded "Oh."

Role Reversal

Hana: I'm drinking soda [or coffee].

Me: That's only for grown-ups. Are you a grown-up?

Hana: Yes.

Me: Can I have some?

Hana: No, you're not a grown-up!!!

Abracadabra

"Abracadabra, I'm going to turn you into a cat!"

This is a new favorite game. Turning me into a cat (or a dog), then asking me to turn her into a cat (or a dog). In general, she is very into pretending to be someone or something else. Sometimes she is a baby and likes to be carried and rocked and pretends to nurse. Sometimes she is a mommy to her dolls and stuffed animals. And when she's pretending to be a dog, we play "fetch" and she brings the ball back in her mouth. :)

Potty training is going well. I must say, though, that the term "potty training" implies that the parent is doing something to train the child to use the bathroom, as if there is some sort of methodology. As it turns out, just about everything I've read is completely contradictory to that. In fact, the child is actually the one in charge, and any pushing by the parent before the child is ready is bound to be counterproductive. Hana is on her own timetable and process for this one. She's got all the skills and awareness necessary to use the potty, but motivation has been intermittent.

Today, we had a break though, which I attribute to what was probably a lot of healthy peer pressure to use the potty at preschool this week. She ran around the house after her bath for 3 hours naked today, and spontaneously used the potty three times during that period!! Two of those times, she insisted on doing the whole thing completely on her own, and wouldn't even let me in the bathroom. I could hear her going through all the steps - peeing, wiping, dumping it in the big potty, flushing the toilet, putting the lid down, and washing and drying her hands. She was very proud of herself for doing the whole process from start to finish.

Sleeping in the big girl bed, on the other hand, is pretty much on hold. We still have the pack n play, so that's her night time home for now.