Toes...the new fingers- who knew

Ok so I thought I'd try to keep this blog as anonymous as I could but then I really couldn't talk about my girls in a way that would highlight their unique and lovely characteristics. So my oldest is Olivia who is 2 and a half and my youngest is Ava who is 17 months. So today's snippet is really all about Ava. After meal times I typically wash her hands and then her face with a washcloth and then I remove her tray from the highchair. So for the past few days she's lifted her feet and wanted me to wash her feet as well. Yeah, sorta like Jesus. So like a fool I obliged and now she has created a habit of taking her dirty hands and smearing her food on her feet while she laughs in delight. Thus making me clean them too. So I thought I'll stop this habit today. I'll just put socks on her little feet and there vanishes the problem... Meanwhile Ava had other plans. So later today I will be bleaching socks that are now covered in mac-n-cheese. This is just one of the many fine habits my sweet little girls have developed.

It really started when Olivia was about six month old. First it was the daily barfing in her crib at nap time. That was a wonderful experience that no mother should have to endure. Apparently when she laid down for a nap it became the opportune time to put her hands in her mouth and feel around until she gagged and puked. That lasted a good six months or as I like to think of it as my first and second trimesters of being pregnant with Ava. Morning sickness never feel good as getting the whiff of fresh puke off your totally unnapped baby. After the puke phase came the 'let's eat wood' phase where she practically ate her crib. I'd take her to the doctor and ask for advice. Apparently what they learn in Med school is to repeat the phrase, "she'll grow out of it" which she did a full year later plus one super cool crib tent. Yeah that is hard to explain to visitors, babysitters, and the like that yes my daughter does sleep in a tent. But it gets better when she decides that she no longer wants to sleep in clothing and every time she pooped she ripped her diaper off. The first time it happened I walked into her room after a nap and thought to myself, 'that's funny..I don't remember giving her a brownie...where'd she get that from...OMG...is that crap on your face?' Then again the whiff of now fresh crap permeates my nasal cavity to remain lodged there for yet another few months. I tried everything from duct taping the diaper on, to potty training her to poop before her nap which was truely hit or miss, to putting a button on her jammies to keep the zipper up which she'd eventually chew off, to just sucking it up and dealing with the crap at the end of the naps. Then a genius, my mother-in-law, called with a plan- and hold on to your pants because this has solved the problem from the very first minute. She said to go buy a footed jammies one size too big and put in on backwards and turn the feet around. Yes, it works. And now everyday before nap Olivia asks for her 'meemees' and loves them. She's potty trained now but still wears her backwards meemees. She is out of her tent and sleeping in a regular big girl bed but does still love to put everything in her mouth. She is an avid thumbsucker and book eater. For everything she put me through I feel we both have come out ok and on top. I've learned patience and understanding and to really think outside the box. As for Ava, she's an avid thumbsucking lovey lover too but she is not orally fixated on anything else and she keeps her clothes on and sleeps without a tent. I'm ready for whatever she has to throw at me. So far she's been a really easy baby. I've started potty training her as well. She loves to sit and clap, but so far not a drop in the bowl. Here's to hoping...