Well, now Mom (I) can claim that Katherine teethes when Steve leaves town. In this case, he’s been traveling almost every week this year (grumble), so it’s not all that hard for that to happen. Katherine and I have been spending lots of quality time together these past two weeks. On Monday night, Katherine was inconsolable. She did a lot of “ah ahhing” even as we pushed around the kitchen in a cardboard box. She didn’t want to eat dinner and was just really unhappy. Finally, I asked Steve to stick his clean finger in her mouth, and he said “there something coming out.” I did the same later that night. Katherine cried and I felt her second molar breaking thru her gums (right above her first molar). As a matter of fact, my finger had blood on it, so it must have really been hurting her terribly. We played with her and finally I went downstairs to get a teether from the freezer. Well, Steve tried to give Katherine her baby Advil and it didn’t go so well. I came upstairs to see Katherine streaking by in a blur of pink around her mouth and all down her PJs. Needless to say, she’s learned to spit out the baby Advil. ๐
Tuesday didn’t go much better for Patty and Katherine. At 4PM, Patty called to let me know that Katherine was cranky and hadn’t slept all day. I suggested some baby Advil to dull the pain and she finally took an hour nap. Katherine and I went to our toddler group class that night and she did pretty well. She clutched her lamb for the first 20 minutes of class, but was fine afterwards. After class, we went home, played and went to bed.
Wednesday night got dicier. I met Patty and Katherine for her haircut after work. Katherine’s hair had been getting very long, and we wanted her first hairdresser to trim her hair. I got to the store to find Katherine zipping a shopping cart around the store and tearing around. She wasn’t too excited about sitting for her haircut, but I supplied dried apple which kept her busy. Good news is that her haircut looks much better than the last, and she is very presentable. We stopped by Hallmark to get Dad’s V-day card. Katherine grabbed a couple cards, and I chased her around so I wouldn’t have to buy them all. Finally, after Katherine screamed for a few minutes in my arms, I selected a card and we escaped the store. Luckily, the other women shopping at the store were very understanding.
Last night was extremely trying. Katherine has definitely learned when Dad is home and when he isn’t. When he’s home, she sleeps thru the night. When he’s not, she wakes at least once and insists on sleeping in our bed. Not only did she get up at 1AM last night, she woke up at 3AM crying very hard. I walked her around and finally calmed her down by rocking her in her chair. I asked her “do you want to sleep in mommy’s bed” – she shook her head hard. I then asked “do you want to sleep in your crib?” and got more shaking. Finally, I asked “do you want milk” and got a “huh” so we went downstairs and drank milk. She finally fell asleep at 4AM.
Tonight confirmed that Katherine truly understands what I’m saying and that she’s talking to me. She picked up her sticker box and handed it to me. She said something that sounded like sticker and then “pwea” which sounded a lot like “please”!! I almost fell over!
We then went upstairs and Katherine decided she wanted toys out of her closet. I explained as usual that she would have to put one of her toys in the closet to get one out (the room is packed with toys). I asked her “do you want to put your phone in the closet?” She walked directly to her phone, picked it up and handed it to me. After a few more minutes of playing with her new toy (a bus), she went back to the closet. I asked “do you want mommy to put one of your toys away” and she shook her head. Wow!