Laura's Mommy Blog

Archive for the ‘Mommy Stuff’ Category

I’ve always taken pride in dressing my daughter. I like to buy her cute outfits, she is a girl after all, and I enjoy picking out what she is going to wear each morning. That is…. until now. My daughter is really starting to assert herself lately and all of a sudden she has started to demand that she pick out her clothes. Oh boy! I admit that I have a bit of a control problem and I like to be in control of most situations and that includes how she looks, but if you could see what she is picking out, you would agree that she is certainly not qualified to be making these decisions.

Not only does she want to pick out her clothes, but she seems to only prefer a few pieces of clothing. If I let her pick out her clothes, I would be doing laundry every second day and my kid would look like she never changes her clothes. I usually don’t care much about what other people think of me, but I kind of care about what people think of my child.

I remember once a few years back I was working at the daycare where I volunteer and it was a hot July day. All of a sudden, one of the kids showed up and he was wearing a lion Halloween costume. I couldn’t understand why his mom would let him wear that out in public, first of all, and why she would let him wear that in the middle of summer. When someone asked her what the deal was, she just said that he wanted to wear it and she just gave up and let him do what he wanted. My daughter was only 1 at the time, so I couldn’t quite understand how a kid could win such an argument, but boy do I ever understand now! Every morning when I fight with Ava about what she is going to wear, I get an image of that kid in the lion costume. Please God, don’t let Ava ask me to wear her Elmo costume…

So, how do I teach my daughter how to dress properly. Please keep in mind that I am dealing with someone that has no reasoning capabilities whatsoever. Now, I have a couple of ideas in mind:

• What about that show on TLC? Maybe I can send her on “What Not To Wear”. Do they accept two year olds? NO? Crap! Oh well, I’m always the optimist, so maybe the producers will change the rules. Stacey and Clinton, please come find me!
• This next idea would probably be the most effective. We are getting ready to go on a family vacation, so I have been busy preparing my daughter’s suitcase. I got the idea of putting her outfits into large ziploc bag from some message boards that I have been visiting while preparing for my trip. I take each outfit and individually package them in a large ziploc bag. In the morning we simply have to pull out a bag and we’re ready to go. That way my husband can’t mess up her outfits and it makes it so fast and easy in the mornings. So I thought maybe I should do this for her clothes at home. Package her tops and bottoms into bags and then she can pick a bag in the morning. This would take a lot of time though and I would have to re-package them every week. So, I’m not too sure if I want to commit to it.
• I could just let her dress herself and go out looking like a fool. Hey, maybe when she’s older and looks at photos of herself she’ll say “Why did you dress me like that?”, and I’ll tell her that I tried to tell her what to wear, but she didn’t want to listen to me. Right at that moment she will have a revelation that I am always right and then she will always take my advice from that moment on. Ummmmmm, in my dreams, right?

I am kind of hoping that this issue will just go away. I really do not want to deal with it and start every day with an argument, which probably means that my daughter is most likely headed for “What Not To Wear” fame. Well, I hope she takes me on her shopping spree!

Let me start off by saying that my daughter is a great kid. She’s very sweet and gentle, and not a wild child at all. Now that I’ve said that, let me just say that even with the greatest kids in the world, it is still possible to lose your mind!

Lately I have been noticing a lot of changes in her attitude and behavior. Most of the changes are very cute and are just a normal part of growing up. Now that she is getting older, she is more interested in playing with other kids. And I mean, really playing, not that thing that kids under 2 years old do, where they play within a very close square footage of each other, but couldn’t really care less that the other is there. Ava is now playing interactively with other kids and having real conversations with them. Just the other day I heard her talking with another 3 year old about our federal health care and whether Obama should really be signing in that health care bill in the U.S..

Ava: You know that federal health care is very beneficial to all our citizens.

Other kid: Yes, but the United States do not want to enter into socialism, it is against their beliefs.

Ava: Very true, we will have to re-convene on this subject at a later date.

I kid, I kid… Of course they talk about normal kid topics, even though I would like to think that my kid is a super genius child. Later on today I will change my status on Facebook to brag about some sort of accomplishment Ava had, like “Laura is so proud that Ava counted to a bazillion today!!!!!!” I will admit that I am guilty of bragging about my kid on Facebook, but I have seen some posts from parents that make me want to puke. Let’s just say that when your status gets to be longer than 20 lines, it’s a bit overboard. We got the point after the 1st line!

Okay, so back to Ava’s changing behavior. She’s starting to play more with kids, she is starting to stand up for herself a bit more, which also means that she is starting to talk back to me. Let me just say that this is a wonderful phase (please insert sarcastic tone here), which I am guessing probably won’t end for about another 15-16 years? Yay for me!!!!!!!

She isn’t talking back as in she is telling me off or making arguments, but she is definitely giving me a hard time. Ignoring me or saying “No” is a regular occurrence. What happened to my little girl that would listen and do anything I would ask her to do? I guess this is the part where parents start talking about ripping their hair out? I am starting to envision how this is going to turn me into a madwoman. Do they sell prescription drugs for this because I think I am going to need them one day. Please, pharma companies out there, if you are reading this, please start the research on this. And if you could make us a drug that will not cause us diarrhea, nausea, insomnia, amnesia, trouble turning your head right, urgency to break out into song anytime, spontaneous combustion, planned combustion, melting of exoskeleton, exploding eyeballs, and any of the other undesirable side effects, that would be much appreciated.

So, the journey into my upcoming psychosis begins. Hopefully, I can stay sane most of the time. If not, god help anyone that knows me, I apologize for my future actions ahead of time….

Amby Baby Motion Bed

The Amby Baby Motion Bed swing has been recalled by the manufacturer as a result of two infant deaths from suffocation.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said that the side-to-side tilting and shifting of the swing can cause the child to roll over and become wedged up against the side of the swing, which can pose a suffocation risk.

The beds are marketed to help babies with colic and reflux. It looks just like a hammock and the bed moves up and down or side-to-side every time the baby moves or stirs. The idea behind the bed is that it mimics the mother’s womb, which would help a baby sleep.

The bed is available in only one model and has a label attached to it that is marked “Amby – Babies Love It, Naturally.” All of the beds were sold online, and have been for sale since 2003.

Parents are being advised to stop using the swing immediately. The manufacturer says it will offer a repair kit to parents, but it will not be available before January 2010.

For further questions, you may call 1-866-544-9721.

Heinz baby cereal is being recalled today. The manufacturer is warning parents that the product contains a possible carcinogen. The company is recalling the Mixed Baby Cereal because it contains high levels of a toxin that is produced by fungus called Ochratoxin A.

Heinz is telling parents not to be worried if your child has consumed the contaminated product because in small portions it should not cause any problems. If you do have any Heinz Mixed Cereal in your house, throw it out immediately.

Here is the product information:

Name of Product: Heinz Mixed Cereal, Stage 2, From 6 Months

Size: 227g

Best Before Dates: BB/MA 10 DE 26 and BB/MA 10 DE 29

UPC: 0 57000 02516 8

For further information, parents may call Heinz Canada at 1-800-565-2100.

I guess I am a rookie at this. This is the first year that my daughter understands what Christmas is. She gets that there is a Santa and that he brings all the little kids presents and we get together with family. I have been working hard to get her into the spirit by playing Christmas music, putting up the Christmas tree, and talking to her about what she would like Santa to bring her for Christmas. I even took her to the mall to visit Santa so she could tell him what she wants.

Early last month, we got in the mail the Toys R Us catalogue, which had a lot of great deals in it. I sat down with Ava and asked her to tell me what she would like from the catalogue. I circled everything that she pointed out because I knew that relatives would be asking me what she wanted, so this way I would have things to tell them when they asked. Out of all the toys in the catalogue, there was one toy that she really seemed fixated on. It was the Barbie airplane. I don’t know why she wanted it so badly, she has never seen it in the store or even played with it at a friend’s house, but she kept saying that was what she wanted Santa to bring her.

So, my husband and I thought it was cute and we would constantly ask her what she wanted from Santa, to which she would always reply, “Bawbie Aipane.” I have already bought Ava a lot of Christmas gifts, so when my mother-in-law asked what she should get her, I asked her if she would mind buying her the Barbie airplane. Someone had to get her that plane!

This week my mother-in-law ventured out to Toys R Us to purchase Ava’s Christmas present, and low and behold, there are no more left! Not only that, there aren’t any left in the whole province and the toy has been discontinued. Can someone say “Aaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!” We checked at a few other stores, and it seems like everyone is out of stock. We even looked on ebay, and it seems like people are trying to take advantage of the situation and are selling this thing for over $100. No thanks!

I’ve come to terms that we are not going to be able to find this airplane for Christmas, but I can’t help but feel guilty for hyping it up to Ava. I never in a million years thought that we wouldn’t be able to get it. So, now I am trying to convince her that the Barbie Camper is a much better choice. I have some people in the States that can pick it up for me, so it looks like we will be going in that direction. But, note to self, “Do not promise gifts to your child that you have not already bought or are sure you will be able to get.” Lesson learned!

Santa's PNP

The people over at Sympatico have created this cool service in which you can create a personal video message for your child from Santa. It’s called the PNP, which stands for Portable North Pole. It is really cool, and your kid will be so excited to receive a message straight from Santa. Just head over to their website at http://santa.sympatico.ca/home/ and fill out all the information they ask for, and they will put a video together for you.

P.S. I think this may only be available for Canadians, but if you are in the United States, give it a try and let me know if it works.