What could be better?

What could be better than spending 12 hours traveling with a toddler? Spending 12 hours traveling with a sick toddler, of course!!!! Yes, yesterday Hailey came down with a bit of a cold. She’s in relatively good spirits, but she’s got snot and nastiness coming out of her face. The doctor gave her some prescription decongestant which I have reluctantly agreed to give her. Hopefully, she’ll feel a little better by tomorrow and/or the decongestant will knock her out on the plane. Let’s hope for the best!

I don’t know if/how much I will be able to write from Italy. I’ll try to post something (maybe even a picture) at least once. Otherwise, I’m sure there will be plenty to tell when we return. Have a great few weeks!

The Hailey Dictionary

In preparation for our upcoming trip to Italy, my Dad and I have been learning Italian. Well, he’s learning Italian; I’m listening to some undecipherable language courses on CD whenever I have a chance. I would hardly call that learning Italian, particularly since I haven’t made it past the first CD.

Anyway, he was kind enough to write up a summary of all of the most important phrases, including “for God’s sake.” Not sure how that one made the list, but I digress. It’s been a while since any of Hailey’s grandparents have spent a significant amount of time with her. Her pronunciation of words is well, let’s just say, toddleresque (go figure). So, I thought that I’d put together my own dictionary of Hailey speak just to help them out on the trip. Here goes:

Ank uh – Thank you.

At – Hat. This word is usually followed by some attempt to put the hat on herself.

Ba – That’s ball. She can find a ball in almost any situation. You’d be amazed.

Baf – Bath

Boop – Book, one of her favorite things in the world thanks to Mommy’s great genetics

Bubba – Bubble

Cat – She’s pretty right on with cat.

Cup – Don’t get confused with up. There’s a clear difference.

Dada – You’d think this would be obvious, but might be Dada; might be doggy; might be Mama.

Doggy – Usually that’s decipherable and involves pointing at something resembling a dog (not always actually a dog).

Dow – Down. You’ll know because there will be squirming.

Gases – Glasses. Usually followed by an attempt to pull the glasses off of your face, subsequently poking you in the eye.

Gabba – A goofy show called Gabba Gabba on TV that Luke watches with her. Now, she points to remotes and says Gabba.

Goo Goo – That’s good girl, usually said to a dog

I waaa uuuhh – I love you. We’re working on that one.

Mama – Again, could be tricky. Might be Mama; might be Dada; might be a random stranger.

Mao – Nope, not the Chinese dictator, that’s mouth. Might also sound like Maof

Milk – There’s no denying that one. She’s right on when it comes to food.

No – Ok. This is a tricky one, and you’ll hear it a lot. Might mean no, might mean yes, might mean nose if accompanied by pointing at her nose.

Peace – That’s please; she’s not a flower child.

Teef – Teeth, that’s an easy one.

Tsao – Ciao! Her only Italian word!

Up – Needs to be preceded or followed by please and not include whining in order for you to actually pick her up.

Well, that’s all I’ve got. She probably says more stuff, but this should get you through your week with her. May the force be with us all!

Is it too late to be French?

I hate the state of day care in America. Hate it!!! In France, they have publically funded daycare centers and nurseries where workers are trained and valued. What do we have here in the greatest country on Earth? A mess of independent companies offering inconsistent care, paying their uneducated workers as little as possible, and charging families exorbitant amounts for their “service.” Is that really the best that we can do for our children? It’s immensely frustrating for a mother who wants to work, wants to provide for her family, and wants to leave her child in a safe, healthy environment.

Daycare is undoubtedly the reason that Hailey has a “no” problem. The daycare provider’s daughter is 3 and is going through her “no” phase. Hailey is simply mimicking her behavior. That aside, I have a pretty good daycare situation right now, but the ongoing negative influence is causing me to look around at other alternatives. Here are my alternatives right now:

1) Put her on any number of waiting lists for daycare centers across the city. The waiting lists range from several months to years. The daycare centers are not as convenient to either home or work as the place that we are going to now, and she would be around more kids, increasing the likelihood that she’s going to be sick all the time.

2) Try to enroll her in some type of preschool beginning in 2008. By the way, these preschools conveniently only offer classes for four hours at a time, usually 9:00-1:00. Some cost more than I’m paying now for full time care, and some require that I take off from work to go work at the school for 12 days a year.

3) Umm yeah, that’s all of the choices.

You might say, “why didn’t you get on some waiting lists when you moved to Atlanta?” Good question!!! I actually did, but the waiting lists for daycares are similar to the waiting list to get the roof rack for my car (don’t get me started on that), sometimes they are “misplaced,” sometimes you aren’t added, sometimes they get thrown away when they get too long, sometimes they don’t exist, and sometimes they won’t add you because they’re too long to begin with. It’s not a rock solid system that we’re talking about.

So, I’ve found one daycare, which is not particularly convenient, but that may have space available in the near future. I’m going to look at it tomorrow. Grumble, grumble.

P.S. We leave for Italy on Friday! More on that later...

Linguistically Challenged

I think that this has been a difficult few months for Hailey. She's getting teeth constantly, she's had a cold, oh and she can't speak! I'm starting to think that the latter is the most difficult for her to handle. I can't imagine what it would be like to know what I wanted but to not be able to tell anyone. I guess that I'll understand that feeling a little better when I try to communicate in Italy using only my 3 Italian phrases.

Anyway, you can almost sense that she wants so desperately to tell me what she wants but can't find the words. I'm not sure what tipped me off to her frustration, maybe its the constant whining and pointing. When we help her by giving her words to repeat, she gets so excited. She loves saying the right thing and being understood. She just rarely knows what the right thing is.

Let This Be a Lesson

Hailey’s Great Aunt Ann was kind enough to send us some of those new little markers that they are advertising for toddlers. As soon as they arrived, Luke opened them and handed them over to our little monster. Within seconds, she was enjoying the thrill of coloring on everything other than the paper that we supplied for her. Yes, her hands, her face, her high chair tray, Mommy’s clothes, nothing is off limits for a toddler with a marker. That is why I think that Mattel, Fisher Price, and all of the other toy manufacturers out there have some sadistic plot to create a generation of crazy parents. Hello, toy company executives, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that markers and toddlers are probably not a good mix. We’ll stick with the washable crayons, thank you very much! Here is the aftermath of the marker debacle. Needless to say, Hailey had a wonderful time with them, and the ink was easily washable. Still, I think that we may wait until she’s closer to 18 months (the recommended age) to try them again since this adventure ended with marker in her mouth!

PS: More pictures available on Flickr.

A Battle of Wills

I’m sure that you are already familiar with Hailey’s ongoing “no” problem. Well, it’s not just that she says no to everything. Now, she completely refuses to say “yes” or any form thereof (yup, yeah, etc). I’ve enlisted the help of the daycare lady, Hailey’s friends, Luke, random people on the playground, etc. It doesn’t matter. No matter how hard we try, the child will not say yes. Maybe she’ll nod her head if you have something that she really wants, but that’s as much as she’ll give. She probably thinks that it’s ridiculous when Luke and I sit at the dinner table and make up questions to pose to each other for which we must respond “YES” along with a fervent head nod. Even I think that’s hysterical, but we have to model good behavior until she figures it out. In the meantime, I guess we’ll have to suffer through more of the “no” phase.

Home Sick

I'm a go go go type of person. I love to be busy, get things done, have checklists, be productive, etc. Type A anyone? However, when I went into Hailey's room this morning and realized that she had a fever, I knew that I was go go going nowhere. Well, that's not exactly how it happened. When I picked her up out of her crib, I immediately knew that she had a low fever, but she's also getting some molars. About a second after I connected the dots between molars and fever in my head, she threw up all over me. Ok. Game over. Change from work clothes to Mommy clothes and buckle down for a day of snuggling and comforting.

This is really one of the first times that I've ever had to stay home with her. Don't ask me how we've managed to avoid this up until now, but we have. It's very strange to have a free day without work. I feel torn between 100% dedication to caring for my sick child (who is sleeping by the way) and that nagging load of laundry that I've been meaning to do! That is why I take great pleasure in the fact that I was able to sit still and rub her back for 30 minutes while she went to sleep. It takes an uncharacteristic amount of patience to do that. Maybe I'm growing as a Mommy and as a person. Ok, I have limited time until she wakes up so I'm off to tackle that laundry!

Oh, and Hailey is going to be fine. Her fever has gone down, and I'm going to try giving her some oatmeal when she wakes up. Hopefully, it was just a little bug.