A no-explanation-needed video to kick off this post:
Add “tinkle lee-lee scar” to Mallory’s song list. Oh, you’ve never heard of that song? Perhaps you’ve heard an alternative version, titled “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.
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With some of the sleep problems we’ve had lately, we thought we’d give Mallory an option of where she wanted to sleep – in her big girl bed or in the crib. I never in a million years thought she’d pick the crib – she always picks the big girl bed and we can usually get her to go to sleep after giving her the choice.
Sure, we could take the crib down and not even have it up in her room but (a) we are lazy and that is a lot of work to only have to put it back up in 3.5 months; (b) if we did take it down, we’d have to haul it to one of our off-site storage areas (aka my mom or my dad’s basement); (c) I am afraid of how Mallory would handle the crib going away for a few months and then taking residence back up in her room just prior to Arlo’s arrival (Mallory & Arlo will be sharing a room for as long as we are living at the lake).
So we elected to leave the crib up not thinking that she would want to sleep in it again. But last week she picked the crib, which we thought was OK for like a minute and then we realized that if we keep the crib as an option for her, she will have trouble next spring when the baby comes. I will admit that one night last weekend she WOULD NOT GO TO SLEEP and was SCREAMING AND CRYING for an HOUR, fighting Rick about going to sleep so I went into her room and put her in the crib and she fell asleep in about 15 seconds. We moved her back to her bed once she’d fallen asleep and I hate that we had to resort to giving in, but it was Saturday night (you know, the night after three nights of severely messed up bedtimes and bedtime routines from Thanksgiving) and she was a DISASTER and I was about to lose it. I am happy to report that she has been sleeping in her own bed big girl bed ever since. Well, except for tonight when I let her fall asleep up in my bed with me because Rick was gone. But I didn’t bring her up after a failed big girl bed attempt – she was up here from the start. And that makes a difference, right? Since it’s on my terms and not hers?
Anyway – related to the big girl bed – I have asked Mallory a couple times this week if she is my big girl or my little baby – fully expecting her to tell me she is my big girl. But instead she tells me she is my widdle baby (which is OK with me!).
Oh – before I forget. She is starting to use “my” and “your” and “me” and “you” (instead of just people’s names). We got into it the other night when I told her she was funny and she told me “NO – YOU funny, mama!”. And it’s funny because she doesn’t think everyone is funny – just certain people.
BUT – she abbreviates “mommy” to “my” sometimes. So if she says “my do it”, I assume she’s saying that she will do it but really she is saying that mommy will do it. Same with when she says “my bed” – she isn’t talking about her bed, she is referring to mommy’s bed.
Mallory is all about me carrying her (as you’ve read about recently) but when I can’t/won’t carry her, the next best thing is to hold my hand. She is so good about it when we are going places – she will usually on her own say “hand, gaga/daddy” or “hand mommy” to hold our hands. And if both Rick & I are with her, she has to hold our hands the exact same way. For instance, she won’t hold my index finger and his pinky – she will purposefully inspect her grasps to make sure they are the same.
And a last story for tonight – I asked Mals if she wanted to feel Arlo kick tonight. I had my hand on my tummy feeling the baby move all over the place. She took my hand off so she could put her hand on – and it was as though she’d been putting her hands on my belly to feel the baby move forever. Somehow she knew to hold her hand still in one spot but that sometimes you would have to move your hand to find the kicks. Arlo settled down right as she put her hands on my tummy so she didn’t get to feel any kicks but I am hoping that she will get to feel some soon. Shane got to feel the baby kick on Saturday and he got the most shocked look on his face with the baby kicked and he felt it – it was hysterical!
Happy mini-Friday!