A Comment About Traytch

Please don't mention Traytch to Cate unless she brings it up first.

Over the past several days a few people (including myself) have asked Cate about her and I just get the sense that Cate, quite frankly, doesn't want to talk about it.

If Cate could express it (and it probably won't be long until she does) she would probably tell her mom to mind her own business and let her keep her private thoughts (and friends) private.

Introducing...Traytch

A few weeks ago we drove by a new house being built in our neighborhood. One of us made some innocuous comment about who might live there someday.

Cate, overhearing this conversation, announced, "Oh, that's Traytch's house."

Chris and I exchanged glances.

"Who's Traytch?" we asked.

"My friend," Cate announced nonchalantly, putting on her green (lensless) sunglasses and gazing out the window.

And we (foolishly) thought we knew all of Cate's friends.

We haven't actually met Traytch yet but, like any good parent, we've tried to ask a lot of questions to get a sense for what kind of person she is, whether she'll be a good influence, what her parents are like, etc.

In a lot of ways, she and Cate are very similar. They're both two. They both live with their mom and dad. They both have little brothers. They both love mac-n-cheese. In their spare time they both like to "play and do art projects."

However, our careful questioning has uncovered some pretty big differences between the two girls.

For example, Cate has brown hair and Traytch has red hair.

Also, unlike most of Cate's friends, Traytch has a job. She works for a company called Mipps. We're not really sure what she does at Mipps but Cate tells us that Traytch "types on the computer." I guess this explains why it's hard for her to come over and meet us in person.

I'm hoping that we'll get to meet her parents soon. I know that Iowa City is a pretty liberal place but I think they are way too permissive with their daughter. I was shocked when Cate said that they let Traytch "drink soda pop and beer." Cate doesn't know it yet but she will probably never be allowed to sleep over at their house.

We'll see how this friendship unfolds. Each day we learn a little more about Traytch.

Never a dull moment at our house. Never a dull moment.

I Don't Know Where She Gets It

It was a tantrum to end all tantrums.

By the time things escalated into full-blown fist-pounding, leg-kicking, shrieking and wailing neither one of us could remember exactly what set the whole thing in motion. (NOTE: At this point I am describing Cate's tantrum, not mine. Mine comes later in the post).

I sent Cate to time out. She saw my time out and upped the ante. Shouting "NO!" at the top of her lungs, she lunged out of her bed and sprinted for the door.

I picked her up and made a mental note to find my battered copy of "Setting Limits With Your Strong Willed Child." I put her back in time-out and explained, through clenched teeth, that she was going to go back in time-out and stay there...blah...blah...blah.

This sequence of events repeated itself more times than I care to remember.

In sheer frustration, I slammed the baby gate at the top of the stairs.

And it broke.

Finally (for the first time in what seemed like hours but was probably only 5 minutes) silence.

Cate's hysterical antics vanished. Instantly.

She shook her head and scolded me, saying, "Daddy's gonna' be really mad when he sees you broke the baby gate."

And so the disciplinarian was effectively disciplined.

When I Grow Up

Me (big sigh): Cate, what should I be when I grow up?

C (immediately): A princess.

Me: Good idea. What are you going to be when you grow up?

C: A ballerina.

Me: What should Ben be when he grows up?

C: A cowboy.

Someday.

Cate: Mom, someday, if we ever have a little baby, she can sleep in our sink. Would that be okay?

Tough Negotiator

Cate, Chris and I are coloring at the kitchen table. Cate accidentally brushes her mermaid picture onto the floor.

Cate: MOM! Can you get that for me?

Me: I think that you can hop down from your chair and get it.

Cate: YOU can get it.

Me: I think that you have two legs that work.

Cate (hiding one leg): No, I only have one.

Me: Hmm. I think you have two.

Cate: Oh, I'm a baby. I mean, I can't get it because I'm a baby.

(We ultimately leave the mermaid picture on the floor until bedtime and begin playing with stickers).

Playing Dress-Up

Milestone: Opening the Baby Gate

The Scene: I'm standing in the kitchen cleaning up from breakfast. Cate calls to me from the other room.

C: Mommy, can you open the gate?

Me: As soon as I finish cleaning up we can go upstairs.

(Long silence)

Cate: Mom I got it!

Me: Got what?

Cate: I opened the gate.

Me (thinking to myself that there is no way my 2-year-old figured out how to open a baby gate that has stumped every adult that has ever been in our house): What?!?!

Cate: I opened the gate!

Me (slowly realizing that she isn't kidding): How?

C: I just pushed down the little thing.

Me: Wow.

C: I'm gettin' to be a big girl.

Terms of Endearment

Cate is cracking me up lately. She's started calling me, her mom, "Honey."

As in, "Be careful when you brush my hair, Honey."

As in, "No, I don't want to get dressed right now, Honey."

As in, "Excuse me, Honey Mommy."

I admit this is much more pleasant to be told no when it is accompanied by such a lovely term of endearment.

Apparently I should have checked out all those Valentine's Day books from the library weeks ago.

Big Girl Bed: An Update...

Well, the honeymoon is over.

Cate now realizes that her bed is not a crib and that she can get in (and out!) whenever she wants.

The good news is that we have reached a compromise. We go through her entire bedtime routing, tuck her into bed and, in return for agreeing to stay in bed, we then put a handful of books into her bed so that she can "read" before she goes to sleep.

Never a dull moment...

Milestone: Big Girl Bed

Many of you know that I have been dreading this day for a long, long time. I was convinced that moving Cate to a "big girl bed" would result in the tragic loss of the best sleeper in the house.

Over the weekend we took the plunge, got out the toolbox and Cate helped Chris put the bed together. Afterwards, she jumped on the bed and told me, "This is really, really, really cool."


But the true test came that night. Would she go to sleep in her new bed? Would she stay asleep in her new bed? Would she stay IN her new bed?

Much to my great surprise (and relief) the answer, for all questions, was yes.

That said, I'm afraid that it's only a matter of time before she realizes that the new bed is not a crib and that she can climb in and out whenver she wants. For now, I'm enjoying the peace and quiet.

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner

Well, except for Baby...

50 Degrees and Sunny!

Sometimes I'm Still Surprised When...

I find myself saying things like, "Chris, don't forget to pick up a new toothbrush at Target. Ben threw his into the potty."

Sweet Dreams

The scene: Bedtime at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I'm getting ready to put Cate to bed after a day of shopping, playing, Play-doh, coloring, dinner with relatives, etc.

Me: Cate, I had a really good day with you today.

C (patting my back): I had a really good day with you today too, Honey.

Who knew?

Who knew that posting a picture of Chris with a mustache in polyester pants would cause my little blog to get twice the number of "hits" that it usually get during a given day?

Just think, if I could get him to put on a gorilla suit and eat chicken wings, or something, I could probably get a book deal...