So much has happened!

– J had her first tantrum :(. She was playing with some fun new toys when I came to get her at daycare, and she didn’t want to leave. I would have let her keep playing, except they were closing and so I had to take her out. I gave her a few warnings before we left, but even so I know she was not done with those toys and did NOT want to spend an hour in the car. I don’t really blame her. When we got out to the hall she refused to move any further, and started rolling on the floor and crying. I felt terrible for her, because I know she was just frustrated and tired and at the end of her rope. I spent some time trying to talk to her and acknowledge her feelings, but because I was in a rush and my arms were full of bags of stuff, I couldn’t really give her as much attention as I think might have helped. Instead, I basically just scooped her up and told her I know she wanted to play with the toys and I was sorry that we had to stop now, but that she could play with them another time. I told her I had her snack ready for her and that we would eat it outside on the bench before we went home. By the time we got outside she had stopped crying. Tantrums are going to be hard for me.

– Spinning until dizzy! She’s discovered that she can spin around in circles all by herself (there’s a spinning chair at the playground that she loves). So she’ll spin spin spin spin until she is dizzy and then stagger around. It’s nerve-wracking. Adorable, but nerve-wracking.

– She has learned the word, “no.”  Well, more accurately, she has learned, “nooooooooooooo.” She pronounces it, “nuu” which makes it pretty cute. Offer her something she doesn’t want and you get a little, “nuuuuu.” Take away something she does want and you get a much more emphatic, “nuuuuuuu!” She did not learn these at home.

– This one probably goes hand in hand with swimming, but recently she has discovered that she can lie down in the bathtub! She’ll lie down and talk to herself or splash a little bit. I think she’s enjoying how things sound different underwater. It’s fun to watch her sit up and lie down repeatedly. One of these days I’ll work up the nerve to have the bath be deep enough that she can practice her floating.

– We also moved J into her own room. For many people, waiting until she is 16 months seems like a very long time indeed. Others don’t move their children out until they are 3 or 4 years old. In our case, it was time to move her into a toddler bed and there’s not quite enough room in our room for one. The crib is snugged right up against the bed, but a toddler bed needs to have room where the child can get in and out. It would have fit, but getting her down into it would have been a bear. So, out she moves. Since she’s not yet sleeping through the night, and still nursing at night, I also got a little mattress for me to go into the room. Last night was our first night with the new arrangement, and it was definitely hard for me to go to bed and not be able to just lean over and listen to her breathe or rest my hand on her back. Every time she woke up in the night she flipped out. At about midnight, I decided to make use of the mattress in the room. It was still a long night. I’m guessing it will take some time for everyone to get used to the new setup. J also woke up incredibly congested, and I’m hoping that contributed to her trouble sleeping. With luck, tonight will go better. I think it’s more likely that I’m in for a rather long week.