updated countdown

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

C wandered into the kitchen singing while I unloaded the dishwasher, and I didn't think much of it until she got to the "LMNOP" portion, which is what she'd been having trouble getting through. She was oblivious to the fact that I was watching her, and the face she made when I started clapping was priceless. Perhaps even more noteably, she repeated the feat when I asked her to!

Days like this make me just shake my head. We can have a day full of tantrums and then she'll pull out a moment like this that just makes me grin.

Dreamin'...part 2

Well, we are finally dreaming again around the Wong house. I'm still not sure what exactly was the cause of C's sleep problems, but we've gotten to the point where she's sleeping through the night again, and in her own (TWIN!) bed. She's done well for a week, so I hope we're on a trend now. We've finally worked out a bedtime routine that she likes and works for us too. However, I now have Goodnight Moon memorized. C likes the bedtime routine so much that I walked into her room this morning and she was standing by her toddler bed (that she won't sleep in), tucking Kitty, George and Jammie George in and "reading" Goodnight Moon to them. She turned around and said "back check", kissed them and walked away. Then she ran back to them. She was mimicking our routine. It was so cute! I'm hoping to get a picture of it sometime. It would make a great scrapbook page.

I'm "benign"

For those of you who knew, or those of you who are finding out by reading this post, I had surgery on the 26th for a mystery-lump in my jaw area. It had grown between February and September '07, so the doctors ran further tests. I had a CT scan that showed it was an enlarged lymph node, which could potentially be cancerous, but the blood work did not indicate "markers" for malignancy, but the surgeon felt it would be prudent to remove the mass. The surgery went fine; my scar is healing nicely; and the tests results are in. The mass was/is benign in nature, the result of something Dr. Martin (why do I keep thinking about shoes when I say that?) called "reactive hyperplasia." Just thought I'd share the news, now that it's all done and over with. For those who knew and were in prayer over this with me--thank you for your prayers as I prepared, recovered and waited for results.

She's SOOO Two

That's right, we've celebrated C's second birthday! She's into Thomas, so this year's theme was "train". Of course, our Day with Thomas was part of her celebration, but we also had a little get-together with friends, cake, presents and ice cream. Even though we invited more than two friends, only two were able to come, and I think I may keep the idea going--of having as many guests as the child is years' old. Two guests was manageable. I tried to have a little train-based craft for the kiddos, but I ended up sending the kit home with our guests as a "later favor" that they could do with their mommies at home. Our cake was awesome--my friend Mandy is super-talented at all things baking, and she made it for us. C recognized it both as cake and Thomas and wanted it immediately upon it's arrival at our house. It was quite a feat, keeping her fingers out of the frosting. She blew the candle out all by herself--before I could even get poised to assist. What a big girl! She also opened all her presents herself, much to her guests' chagrin. They wanted to help something awful! I think much of their frustration (havens, even some of my frustration!) was due to her opening strategy: one strip of paper was torn off at a time, and meticulously placed off to the side in a little pile. She was so excited by each one of her toys that she wanted to play with them right then. I had to take them away and insist that she finish opening. Each of the presents has already found it's place in the daily life of the Wong household though, to be played with, loved and not forgotten at the bottom of the toy baskets.

Here's a few pictures.

Day Out with Thomas

C is totally "into" Thomas the Tank Engine (train) these days. As chance would have it, there is a train museum about 2 1/2 hours from here, in Perris California. The day after C's calendar birthday, they sponsored a "Day Out with Thomas". The event included meeting Sir Topham Hatt (which we didn't get a picture of because my batteries died right as we got to the front of the line and I didn't have access to my extras at that moment), riding on a train that had Thomas pulling, and several other Thomas-related activities in "Imagination Station". Thomas also brought along his friend, Bob the Builder (whom C also LOVES!) who had a 20 minute show followed by a meet-and-greet session, where we did get a picture! Since C likes her trains so much, I think we may go back to look at the museum when it's not so crazy with kids to see Thomas. C was very excited to see Thomas pulling the train, and she boarded all by herself, to the amazement of our ticket-taker. The look on her face to see Bob arrive, live, was priceless. Her eyes got big and her mouth dropped open in awe. I was holding her though, so no picture. When we met Bob, she couldn't take her eyes off him! But I'm so proud of my little girl, she went right up to him, bold as brass!

Sleep Update

Progress is being made. We now have a nightlight, a holiday house with its lights on and a white noise machine set on "ocean" set up in C's room. It may sound ridiculous, but it's working. I also have to lay down with her until she falls asleep, but now if I get up and leave, she doesn't wake up. She's still waking in the middle of the night and hollering for a while, but she's no longer crashing on the floor after her fuss-session. She's crawling back up into bed. In addition, although we bought a toddler bed for her, she won't sleep in it; she's all about the big 'ol twin bed instead. Whatever, as long as she sleeps. As for naps, well, that's still a work in progress. If she falls asleep in the stroller, she'll continue napping in it for about an hour and a half. Otherwise, she wants to be held through her nap. Ugh. At least I'm learning to sort of doze in the easy chair. I still wonder where she gets this sleep issue--F can sleep absolutely anywhere in practically any conditions, and I think I'm a pretty average sleeper. Oh well, at least I no longer feel sleep deprived.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream...

...Or Not.

Isn't keeping people from sleeping a form of torture? If it is, my daughter is torturing _me_. She's never napped well, and night-time sleep was terrible until she hit about 18 months. She went to bed nicely from about 18 months until the middle of October. For the past 2, almost 3 weeks, she's been, shall we say "resistant", to going to bed at night. She's fine if she's in the bed with Mommy and Daddy (for a night or 2--hoping she'd settle down), but that solution is unacceptable for the long run. We tried a night light (screamed longer); we tried laying down with her in her room until she goes to sleep(lasted FOREVER); we tried letting her cry it out (it has lasted up to an hour before she collapses on the floor for a short time before waking up to scream again). Everything I've seen says that after 3 consecutive nights of any one of these solutions, the child should be over the problem with sleeping. She continues to scream, fight and otherwise refuse to go to bed, and if we do get her to go to sleep, it lasts for about 4 hours and she wakes up screaming so we go through it all again.

Last night I rhetorically asked her, "why don't you want to go to bed?" She finally has the words to respond!
C: "Scared the monsters"
Mommy: "Where are the monsters?"
C: "Monsters dark"
Mommy: "Where in the dark?"
C: "Seep..." *whimper*

I think this means she's having nightmares? Great. Just great.