Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Discipline

Anyone have good tips? She thinks the word no is funny, she runs from us when we ask her to give up what's in her mouth, or suddenly stops understanding us when we ask her to fix something (like put the books back that she threw all over the place)
I'm sure this is all normal and healthy signs of development, and I appreciate that. We don't have TV, so watching SuperNanny is not an option.

I'll tell you what we have done:
One minute timeouts
Putting toys away that she starts to throw
Reducing the number of books she has access too (so I have less books to pick up)

Thanks for your help!

Adventures in Babysitting

I didn't forget to tell you all that my husband and I partied hard for Halloween, I've just been too busy to tell you. We went out with a friend of ours, Andi, who did the footwork of finding a sitter for her daughter and ours. It was a rainy Halloween night, but we didn't let that stop us from donning costumes and hitting World Cafe Live.

The phone call Daddy received just as we sat down is the one parents dread. The sitter called to say that Tallu had been crying unconsolably, and she didn't know what else to do. My initial reaction was "Oh, fuck, are we gonna have to leave?!" My second thought was "Aren't we paying you do deal with her? Work it out, lady!" Daddy gave suggestions, and a half hour later she texted to say that Tallu was not sleeping, but much more calm.

We three parents had fun, but when we got back to Andi's house after midnight, who was up, crying, tired, and refusing to sleep? Tallulah! Andi's daughter went to sleep, but Tallu wouldn't (now the poor child was up because ours was noisy). The sitter kept her calm and occupied, reading stories, playing with toys, amd generally avoiding the front door, which set our kid off.

Having said all this, the sitter was unphased by Tallulah's behavior, and complimented us on her language skills and playfulness. She said she just needs to get to know a sitter and perhaps be in her own house, and she'd be fine at night. We still have her number in our address book, just in case....

The next two times we've gone out we've let the little one with our mothers. Tallu knows and loves these ladies, and knows the houses. The sleep issue is the same. She eventually did go to sleep, but at some unholy hour. I guess the solution would be go out more often so that she knows it's okay to sleep without us...

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

What's New with Tallu


Here is your friend at Studio 34 in West Philadelphia after her parents performed with Unidos da Filadelfia. She's not a baby anymore, as you can see. She talks, and sometimes she says things that are in English. People look to me or my husband for translation, but often we shrug our shoulders. The list of vocabulary is expanding exponentially. Her most impressive word? "Denicious" (delicious).
She walks, she runs...sometimes away when she's doing something she's not supposed to. She's got rhythm, she loves music, and was doing a pretty funky dance at Studio 34. My favorite is her shoulder shimmy dance, which I don't have any video of, yet.
Tallu is also becoming less afraid of animals. She spent Thanksgiving in a house with five cats, then went to an apartment with one Jack Russell terrier, and to a house with one small terrier mix. She's warming up to them much quicker, though we must break her of the throwing things at the animals habit. It's not malicious, but it's still not something she should do.
Hmm...what else...still nursing and eating, still teething, still peeing and pooping. Ah, yes! Memory. She is recalling people's names when they are not around, like Abu, Eli, Nathan. She also recognizes certain people in photographs. We went to my mother in law's house, and as we pulled into the driveway, Tallu pointed to the house and said "Grandmama."
I promise to post more before the end of the year. Now that I have a toddler who uses up a lot of my energy I spend my nights sleeping. Of course, it's 6:48 am, but I had to put her back in bed after a mid- night wake up. The joy and curse of the toddler bed is that she can get out of bed and walk into our room any time she wants. But I'd rather wake up to a little voice saying "henno" (hello) at the side of my bed at 3am than to wailing down the hall.